Darken Pathways
by Nagumo
Summary: Ruki is confused about herself. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery that might be her last. The price we pay for knowledge. Warning spoilers.
1. What I Am

Digimon: Tamers. Alternate Universe. Strictly Japanese names and such but based on the events in the American version (The only one I know about)

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Give me no love, because I lost it all  
Give me no hate, because I have no more  
Rage against my soul  
Rage against my mind  
Sins forgotten and brave deed performed  
Look beyond my shield  
Remember me as I am

Ruki was not a bright and happy type of person. In fact most people would call her sullen, morose and cold to the world around her. Thus she sat alone on a train car that was heading to who knows where. It was unusually relaxing listening to the quiet clacking of the train as it went straight on it's metal road and watching the scenery of the countryside pass by. The train was sure of its course in life but its sole occupant was unsure of the future.

"Damn them all," Ruki muttered silently.

Ruki remembered the past days of her life. She had become soft, too secure and far too dependant on her friends. Soft for allowing them to get too close, too secure thinking that they would never leave her and too dependant because believed that she could not live without them. Ruki remembered a time where she never needed such things. Alone she was strong, alone she was safe and alone she was great. Alone she was weak, alone she was insecure and alone she was nothing.

Ruki threw an angry glare at the outside world. It was all so confusing for her. She had ridden this train for a good twelve hours and it had not inspired her or resolved her feelings. 

'My mother and grandmother must be worried about me...' Ruki thought idly.

The sun in the outside world was beginning to set and the rice fields of verdant green were beginning to darken. Night was approaching quickly and Ruki realized she was unsure what she was going to do. She knew exactly where she was going but what did she intend to do when she got there? She had enough money to last her awhile but it would not last forever. Ruki turned away from the window and began to look over her backpack.

The said backpack was packed with essentials she needed to have for a few days. A tent, blankets, flashlight and batteries, knife and other things. She would be alone; there would be no Renamon, no family, and no friends, in short no one to bother her. She was heading towards Hikawa forest, a place of great natural beauty and solitude. A place that was the beginning of her journey, a journey to become the best. A place where she saw the infinite possibilities of what she could be.

*****

"Ruki!" Takato shouted as loud as he could.

"Ruki! Where are you?" Juri called out with equal fervour.

The two were wandering around the park trying to look for Ruki and so far they were failing miserably. No one knew where Ruki had went, not even her ever-faithful friend Renamon knew where she had disappeared off. The Makino household was in panic except for the ever redoubtable and calm grandmother Seiko simply entered Ruki's room and sat down at the table in her young granddaughter's room. Ruki's mother, Rumiko, was another story all together, she began to panic and had all ready called the police. She was tearful and thinking of all the bad things that could possibly happen to her daughter, there were lots of bad things that could happen and the fact that Ruki's mother gave some of the most unnerving possibilities of what could happen spurred on Ruki's friends.

"It's getting late Juri-san," Takato said finally giving up shouting.

"I know but we still haven't found Ruki!" Juri replied.

"We can't search any more; it's getting dark. Maybe Jen, Hirokazu or Kenta have found her or something," Takato pointed out. It was ten p.m. and their search was so far been futile.

"I know..." Juri said sadly. Why did Ruki disappear off all of a sudden? Ruki was just starting to open up a bit more and act a little warmer to everyone. It made no sense. Half-heartedly the two walked out of the park and headed towards the Makino household. They walked together in the dark; the city lit up like a flame of eternal brilliance that pierced through the creeping night. People in the streets walked about oblivious to the two young eleven-year-olds that traversed the streets. Two young children who bore the burden of many triumphs, tragedies and adventure many could only dream and have nightmares about. Two young Digimon Tamers and they felt that had just lost another adventurer and friend.

The Makino household was up ahead. It's proud and ancient walls hide the grief and worry that bubbled inside. The garden was a slice of paradise that many Japanese would love of have. Currently the occupants trying to enjoy the garden was a young girl who should obviously be asleep and the Tamer's digimon's except Renamon who was still out searching.

"Where could Ruki have gone?" Terriermon asked out loud the question that was on everyone's mind. He was at the same time trying to avoid Shiuchon's infamous 'Ms. Pretty Pants treatment'. He bounded here and there trying to avoid the playful young girl's grasp.

"Hold still Terriermon!" Shiuchon called out as she once again failed to grab Terriermon. Lopmon watched indulgently at his young Tamer's silliness. He however refused to draw her attention to himself lest he encouraged Shiuchon to give him the 'treatment'.

"I have checked everywhere and a few places I never even thought that existed in this city," Renamon said. She appeared seemingly out of nowhere, phasing in from nothingness. She was perturbed by her lack of progress in finding Ruki. Renamon could no longer feel Ruki's presence anywhere in the city and it was rather disturbing. Renamon never realized how oddly lonely it was without Ruki's presence. Ruki had a distinctive aura and the distance in which they could communicate was great. The fact that Renamon could no longer sense Ruki anywhere in the city meant only one thing. Ruki was not in Shinjuku or anywhere close by.

In that moment the gate opened and Hirokazu, Kenta and Jen entered. They seemed to have no such luck in finding Ruki or any clues of her disappearance.

"Nothing," Jen said tiredly. They all had been looking for her for the last ten hours and nothing had turned up.

"Of course you found nothing... Ruki's no longer in Shinjuku," Renamon responded. It was the only logical conclusion to Renamon's mind.

"Oh and how do you know that?" Hirokazu asked curiously.

"I can't sense her anywhere in the city. I should of gotten a feeling of her aura by now but I haven't," Renamon answered curtly.

"Wow. So you a have a psychic link to Ruki or something?" Kenta asked with equal curiosity.

Renamon didn't really feel like answering the dubious duo's questions and turned to Jen as a subtle push for him to interrupt the two before they let loose a divulge of questions. Jen luckily noted the look on Renamon's normally dispassionate face and saved the day.

"If you can no longer feel her presence anywhere in Shinjuku, there's a good chance she's not in Tokyo at all," Jen concluded.

"What?" Takato vocalized. He and Juri had just arrived from their search and overhead Jen's remark.

Jen decided to explain his theory.

"Well Renamon has a connection to Ruki right? That connection is usually very far reaching and Renamon can usually pin point Ruki's location with little difficulty. The fact that Renamon can't sense Ruki's presence means one or two things. One is that Ruki is dead," Jen couldn't continue on. Ruki's mother had accidentally overheard Jen's comments.

"WHAT! Dead?! No! My daughter! My poor sweet daughter!" Rumiko cried out sobbing. The rest of the night was spent trying to calm Rumiko down and explain what they really meant.

*****

Ruki got off the train and looked up at the clear night sky. The train station was empty and lights lit up the place weakly. There was no one around and the sound of the train doors closing was like a gunshot in the silence. Ruki jumped at the sound and then scolded herself.

'It's only the damn train doors,' Ruki thought and looked around. Hikawa forest was only a few miles away and she had a lot of walking to do. She turned away from the train station with her backpack and walked along the dirt country road. She stopped briefly along the tracks and watched the train begin to move away from the platform slowly at first and then faster. Ruki stood there and watched the train pull away. Her hair swayed in the slight breeze and her purple eyes tried to drink in the sights of the countryside. The train's rhythmic clatter echoed throughout the night and eventually went out of sight and out of hearing range. The lights on the train were far away illusions before they finally were extinguished. Ruki then turned her eyes to the darkened country road that meandered through the idyllic but dark farmlands. Ruki could make out the shapes of farms and great trees in the moonlight. The stars were so bright and cold that Ruki almost forgot that she still had a long way to go. She put on her trench coat and turned up the cuff. The night was young and Ruki was weary.

So Ruki walked tired from her long journey on the train but refused to give up. Each step she took was a step closer to the truth. The truth that she needed to find by herself and for the sake of everyone. Was this the path that she should take in life? Why must she change? Its not like she feared change but there maybe a chance that there is a way to keep things the way before. The way that she used to be. The proud and strong warrior that stood alone in battle in a past the seemed so distant and frightful.

The stars were so bright and the moon shed its soft silvery light on the road. Ruki could only stare up at the distant stars and admire the sight. The city's electrical light usually ruined the panorama of the eternal sky. Ruki remembered a time when she admired the stars for their light, their distance and beauty unmarred by careless human hands. 

'And what human hands can not touch, they obscure or hide,' Ruki mused. 

The country road was an intimidating place. The shadows from the trees cast weird shapes on the ground, the sound heard was the whistling of the wind and rustling of leaves. No voices could be heard and no sound of civilization pierced through the silence that nature made. The only reminder to Ruki that she was still on earth and not some far off wilderness was the fields of rice denoting farms but even those were starting to become rare. The trees were become taller, older and more densely grown. Until finally Ruki came to a cobblestone road that lead towards a long flight of darken wooden stairs. Bright red arches that led up the great mountain flanked the stairs and there were literally hundreds of these arches for every step up the mountain. Ruki took a well-deserved break before attempting to climb the stairs. She sat down on the cobblestone street and stared up the dark ominous steps to her predetermined sojourn. All Ruki could see were the red arches winding up the mountain like a red dragon lying on the mountainside forest. The stairs zigged and zagged up until finally it stopped at an overgrown and ancient temple and further up from the temple was the bare grey stone mountaintop. The stone mountaintop stuck out like a sore thumb when contrasted by the greenery of it's forest. The temple was where Ruki was going, then the up to the top of the mountain and she was going to get there no matter what. 

Ruki forced her tired legs to support her equally tired body and climbed up the stairs. The stairs seemed to go on forever but Ruki could see the temple become closer and closer as she got up each step. The red arches were old but still retained their bright red colour so that it shined in the moonlight. The forests around her were ancient old growth trees and the grey mountaintop beckoned her on. 

'How many hours have I walked all ready?' Ruki thought as she tried to ignore her protesting body screaming at her for the abuse it was suffering. Rest was tempting but there were still plenty of stairs to go. Ruki cursed her weakness and checked her watch. The watch read four thirty a.m. and that surprised Ruki.

"Damn no wonder I'm tired," Ruki said out loud. The fact that she should all ready be up the stair all ready only made her increase speed up the stairs. Then she began running up the stairs using energy she thought she had long ago expended. In what seemed to be eternity Ruki finally arrived at the top of the stairs. Ruki forced her legs to stop and almost collapsed in exhaustion. Her lungs burned and her hair was wet with sweat from the run. She stared at the ground and tried to catch her breathe.

"So you have returned," an old but affable voice declared.

Ruki forced her head up and face the source of the voice. There standing in the moonlight was an old grey-haired woman with black eyes. Her hair was long and bound; she was dressed in a pure white robe and gave a long hard look at Ruki.

"I was wondering when you would return here young kitsune," the woman chuckled and smiled, "and the spirits have been lonely without your presence."

"Yes Kaho. I've returned," Ruki said and straighten her back despite her exhaustion and exuded an aura of cool confidence and power.

"Yes... I knew that you would," Kaho said, "I've been waiting for you."

"... You knew I was coming?" Ruki said incredulously.

To that Kaho smiled mysteriously and picked up an ancient lantern and lit it. 

"Your tired young one. There's a bed prepared for you," Kaho said simply and turned around leading the way to one of the ancient temple's buildings. Ruki was too tired to really complain or get annoyed with the old woman and followed her. Kaho opened one of the paper sliding doors and showed Ruki in. As promised there was a plain futon spread out on the tatami floor and Kaho put down the lantern in one of the corners of the room.

"Stay as long as you need to. As long as you need to find yourself," Kaho said and left Ruki alone. Ruki felt a little uneasy, it didn't matter when, why or how she would arrive here, Kaho would always know when, why and exactly how long Ruki intended to stay. The last time Ruki was here, she intended to stay only for a few hours and Kaho predicted exactly how long and why. It didn't matter to Kaho if it was just a few minutes or for three days or it was earth shattering. Few things seemed to matter to the old woman and that was both a blessing and curse for Ruki.

Ruki wasted no time and entered the room after Kaho had left. Ruki took off her shoes and entered the room. She was exhausted by her journey, so as soon as Ruki had closed the sliding doors and put her backpack down. She went into the futon, blew out the lantern and fell asleep immediately without changing her clothes. Sleep came swiftly and Ruki was oblivious to the passing world.


	2. How I Feel

I do not own Digimon.... I do not own Ruki... I do not decide whether Ruki ends up with Jen or Takato or anyone else in the whole universe called Tamers... You can try to influence my decision by telling what couples you would like to see though.

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In a city of crossroads  
That never lead home  
Where secrets unravel  
And fates intertwine  
Someone was calling my name in the night  
As I ran  
From a voice that was echoing mine

Dreams did not come easily for Ruki. They never did and they never would because she refused to be blinded by them but sometimes when her mind was weary and her soul was lost in the depths of chaos. A sliver of always desperate and often futile hope filtered into Ruki's sleep and became her painful temporary refuge from the world. Painful because it could never be and she would never let it grow true.

The world in her dream was not perfect, Ruki never believed in perfection as a reality but rather an eternal struggle and journey one must forever fight and traverse. Those who faltered or fell in that journey were obviously her inferiors because they could never see the truth of it all. Life is short and it was cheap as hell. Emotions could be bought and sold like so much trash that accumulated in the depository called a heart. A heart that was warm, a heart that brought the pain of loss, a heart that refused to stop beating. Ruki was not afraid of that warmth; she simply did not want it. She built the shields of her short life to hide it and perhaps end it from making her feel. It was always for naught and she could never understand it all. To feel those emotions was like taking a drug that she couldn't stop herself from taking. It was there for the taking, there for use and always there no matter what. 

Further more the world in her dream was not warm nor was it cold. It was neither but more of a mild feeling of contentment. That contentment of course was what truly bothered Ruki the most. It seemed that the struggle was forgotten and the journey had ended all too early for her taste. In the dream was everyone she had befriended and came to accept in her life. Hell her own mother was there in the dream and Ruki felt as though her own mother was no longer trying to change her but let Ruki grow at her own pace. It was as if Rumiko had finally accepted the fact that Ruki was not an identical clone or attached appendage but a daughter that was both beautiful and ugly. Ruki could never kill the feeling of love for her mother even if Rumiko did drive Ruki insane at times. Even if Ruki was trying to stifle her emotions there some things she just could not abandon, like so many other things in life in fact. Next to Rumiko was Hata Seiko and Ruki turned to face her.

Seiko, Ruki's grandmother, ever loving and ever accepting smiled at Ruki. Seiko was one that always rose to meet life's challenges and sights. That made Ruki respect her more than anything but what bothered Ruki was her grandmother's intense and lucid wisdom. Seiko had come to accept the contentment and sought no more on the road perfection. It attracted and repulsed Ruki all at the same time. How could anyone like Ruki come to rest in the middle of a battle that would never end? Not when there were places to see and things to do. Not when you know you can become better and stronger than anyone else. Not when you realize that you what you wish is impossible and possible.

Laughter rang out from a far away place. Seiko and Rumiko faded away from the dream and left only emptiness. Then arising from the ground was all whom Ruki had come to accept and perhaps befriend.

There was Juri smiling unaware of her own strengths. The one who had achieved her near perfection through the rigors and tragedies that life had thrown at her through the loss of Leomon, the subsequent torture and cloning from D-Reaper and the final battle for her soul and sanity. Ruki couldn't help but look at the girl with a sense of pride knowing that there was someone as uplifting in the world like Juri and she trusted Ruki. They were diametrically aligned when compared in temperament but they were the same in their end result whether Juri realized it or not. The late Leomon stood by Juri like a guardian, strong, proud and dead. Ruki had to remind herself that the price had been steep for Juri. It was not a price that Ruki would like to pay.

Next to Juri stood the ever confusing and frustrating original goggle head of it all. Takato Matsuda, a person she could not help but despise and admire at the same time. How could anyone not struggle through the life that fate had thrown down? He had suffered but he never chose to take the path that promised the most pain and power. He cried, he depended on others and he never abandoned those dopey goggles or his friends. Yet when forced to face what the world had to throw at him, he never wavered and never ran away. Didn't he realize that if he pushed himself that he would be better than her? As displeasing as the thought was to Ruki, she had to admit it. Guilmon was by Takato's side and gave his tamer a ludicrous mix of a strange childlike mind and undying companionship that would stretch into the end of time if Takato could live that long. How could the goggle head create something like Guilmon?

There standing by Takato was the final two component to the 'Three Goggle heads". They were lazy, they were annoying and they were loyal to a fault. Hirokazu and Kenta smiled proudly like two people who had just won the lottery. Marine Angemon flew around Kenta's head like a buzzard making a downright annoying sound. How Kenta could stand Marine Angemon's constant pi-ping sound was beyond her. Kenta, to Ruki's mind, represented something that she found grating about a certain word, it was called 'normality'. It was written all over Kenta, he was anonymous like almost everyone in the world. As hard as Kenta tried to garner recognition he always seemed to be doomed to remain nameless. A blessing and curse, being nameless meant that no one expected you to be great. Being nameless meant everyone left you alone. Being nameless would drive Ruki insane and sane by the twin requisites that they possessed. It gave privacy but it also gave the word mundane a new angle. 

Hirokazu suffered from a symptom that was completely different from Kenta. He suffered from an incredibly large ego and inability to simply shut up. He was made to be remembered but not always in the most pleasant of light. Guardromon was probably the only living thing, if you can call a machine a living thing, in the world that could possibly put up with Hirokazu's mouth. As much as Ruki would love to shut Hirokazu up, she couldn't help but note how people simply paid attention to him. It didn't matter if it was incredibly stupid and people could not get it or if it was downright brave and admirable. People would remember him and his usually idiotic attempts at greatness. Who needed greatness when you become immortal in the minds of everyone you meet? If he failed he would simply mope about for a few moments and then spring back with an another pathetic attempt to tackle the problem. If he succeeded he would never cease to shut up. But it wasn't what she was looking for. Recognition was on the bottom of the list of priorities Ruki made.

Jen stood amongst the group with his youngest sister Shiuchon. He bore an ever-present look of patience and Terriermon was in running away from Shiuchon while Lopmon tried to make himself scarce. Ruki never had siblings and would probably never would. Jen's sister was an innocent not yet aware of the harshness of the world. In fact now that Ruki thought about it, Shiuchon would never suffer from its harshness. The Lee family was loving and whole. Not fractured like Ruki's nor were the relationships misunderstood like Ruki's. It seemed strange to Ruki that Lopmon, formerly a deva, would be partnered to such an innocent. Lopmon had the weight of many years and many struggles; the fact that he was partnered to seven-year-old Tamer seemed a little outlandish. It made no sense but life seldom did.

Jen managed to grab Terriermon before Shiuchon could get him. He held Terriermon aloft on his head and tried to get Shiuchon to stop. Jen was the understanding one, the quiet one, the one that would simply not leave her alone. No matter what Ruki tried to do or how she would do it Jen would be there to remind her of the 'moral' path. He never tried to change anything; he never bucked the system. He was stubborn, as hell when it came to what he believed was right. Admirable but it was also quite frustrating and furthermore, to add insult to the wound, he was usually right or close to being right. She cared about Jen as a friend but she sincerely wished he would stop. So what if the decision harmed her? So what if it pushed almost everyone away that could be her friend? If they could not accept her for who she was then don't bother trying to understand her. Jen could not accept that and he believed that he could change Ruki. Terriermon usually made the tactless comments on Jen's attempts to change or understand Ruki. But then again those tactless remarks were quite accurate on the success ratio of Jen's attempts to change her.

Ruki's mind began to hurt. Why was she thinking about her friends? Friends? When did she regard them as her friends? They were... they were merely acquaintances that she had met over the year. Or were they all just something more?

In a far away corner were Ryou and Cyberdramon. Ruki felt ambivalent when she thought of Ryou. There were however a few glaring facts that she disliked about him. Specifically the fact he acted as if he was so damn perfect. The perfect hair, the perfect teeth, the perfect tan, the perfect everything. He had a 'here I come to save the day!' fixation that never ceased to provoke her ire. She knew he was not perfect, far from it but it didn't change the fact that there quite a few things that got her mad at him. She did not want Ryou's help; she was perfectly fine by herself and with Renamon.

Renamon was nowhere in sight. Ruki realized it when she began to look around to find her. The familiar and elusive fox-like digimon was nowhere near. Ruki's best friend and partner, she was not afraid to admit that Renamon was her best friend but there was just something that hardened Ruki's reluctance to embrace it all. All that had happen, all that was laid bare in front of her for her eyes only. The thoughts of the past swirled around Ruki in a confusing barrage of images and sounds. Was this what she had to look forward to? It was so... beautiful, so ugly and so strange. It was nothing like what Ruki had envisioned for herself. The future she set down was far lonelier and she never expected everything that had happened. She was never supposed to get close to anyone, she was never supposed to feel these emotions.

Everyone began to crowd around Ruki. Ruki felt claustrophobic with everyone crowding around her. Laughter, talking, jokes and smiles greeted her at every turn. Ruki wanted to do something, she wanted to say something but words and actions were lost upon her addled mind. She wanted to talk to them and laugh with them. A unfamiliar feeling of belonging pressed upon her psyche and a desire to stop her journey finally crossed her mind.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ruki shouted. The unfamiliar emotion of belonging past her mind and it actually frightened her. She didn't want to stop, to stop meant to drown in your emotions and regrets. Ruki tried to push away the crowd but instead of pushing them away, the images of her friends began to shatter when she touched them. She pushed Takato away and he broke up into little bits of data. Takato's 'death' was the catalyst of the shattering effect. Ruki accidentally tripped and landed a large group of the digimon. The digimon all shattered and the data coated Ruki like black nightmarish blood. Ruki's purple eyes dilated in realization of what she had done.

"No!" Ruki shouted. She got up and watched her friends seem to shatter into dust. A strong wind blew and scattered the dust into the air. Ruki looked down at her hands and saw the data drip down like blood. Then noticed she dressed in a now dirtied white robe similar to Kaho's. The once pristine robe was stained by the data of her dead friends.

Ruki felt unimaginably cold and dread began to set in her heart. She hadn't felt this cold since Ice Devimon had kidnapped her and tried to convince her that Renamon was unworthy of her attention. 

Something warm touched her back and draped itself over Ruki's shoulders. Ruki couldn't see what it was but she could see a human arm cross around her waist. Something was embracing Ruki from behind and the other arm wrapped itself around Ruki's chest. It was warm but Ruki couldn't see what it was. Then Ruki felt pain, she felt sharp teeth bite into her shoulder. The arms gripped Ruki tightly and refused to let go. A tail swung between Ruki's legs.

"Renamon!" Ruki screamed in the cold darkness. She tried to struggle out of the grasp of whatever was biting her.

*****

Renamon awoke in a start and looked around to see what had just woken her. She could have sworn that she heard Ruki calling out her name. Ruki's bedroom was empty and quiet however. Everyone else was sleeping in the guestrooms and nothing was moving around in the house. Yet Renamon knew she heard Ruki call out. Renamon got up and walked out of the bedroom. 

The garden looked especially beautiful for the sun was just dawning. The dew that had gathered from last night rested on the leaves of trees and the light from the sun caused them to sparkle. Much to Renamon's surprise everyone was up and watching the sunrise. Even the lazy Hirokazu and Kenta were up and in the garden. Shiuchon looked ready to fall asleep and Juri let the young girl rest on her lap. Takato and Jen seemed to deep in a conversation of sorts. Lopmon, Guilmon, Terriermon, Guardromon and Marine Angemon seemed listless and tired. It looked as if all of them were drained of their strength but they were all up at five thirty in the morning.

"Am I missing something or am I hallucinating?" Renamon asked in shock. This was probably the first time she had ever seen the dubious duo awake so early without complaining.

"Ha Ha. Very funny... the truth was I couldn't sleep, I had this freaky dream..." Hirokazu said.

"Tell me about it... I had the same weird dream too;" Kenta went on but stopped. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I had this weird dream where everyone was in it. Ruki was in it too..." Juri managed to say.

"Really?" Renamon asked. Now Renamon was becoming interested.

"We all had the same dream. I saw Ryou and Cyberdramon even but... Renamon where were you? I didn't see you anywhere in the dream," Takato explained.

Renamon paused for a moment unsure what to say.

"I didn't have any sort of unusual dream last night." Renamon answered. She slowly recounted last night's events in her mind. The entire group had spent an hour reassuring Rumiko that Ruki was not dead but by that time everyone was tired. It was Ruki's grandmother, Seiko's idea to have everyone sleep over at the Makino household since it was so late. Everyone agreed and decided to plan everything out next morning. Renamon fell asleep fitfully and had no dreams to her memory.

"Well then you weren't that weird fox lady then," Terrier commented. Renamon simply blinked not understanding at all what Terriermon meant. Jen decided to save Renamon from confusion and explained.

"It's weird... Ruki was in a white robe and behind her was a fox. At first I thought it was you as Kyubimon but the color was wrong. The fox was white and then morphed into a fox headed woman with a tail," Jen began to recount the dream, "we all tried to get near Ruki but she seemed to panic and pushed everyone away. Then it ended..."

"Are you sure you didn't have a similar dream Renamon?" Takato asked earnestly.

Renamon shook her head.

"No, I had dreams last night but I thought I heard Ruki scream out my name," Renamon answered.

"Well that was odd... Maybe we can call Ryou up and ask him if he had the same weird dream," Lopmon suggested in a slightly bored voice.

"That's a good idea... but there's one slight problem... Does anyone even know what Ryou's phone number is?" Hirokazu asked.

Silence reigned in the garden for a moment before Takato finally broke it.

".... Ah... That's going to be a problem," Takato finally stated.

"Gee I didn't realize that," Terriermon commented sarcastically.

*****

Ryou stared hard into the mirror and looked at his dishevelled and tired face. Last night he had the strangest dream. He dreamt of Ruki and the other Tamers last night.

"Whose ever heard of a white Kyubimon?" Ryou asked to no one in particular. Talking to no one but himself was a side effect that he had picked up over the year in the Digital World when he was by himself. He closed his eyes and then opened them.

"Guess I'm off to save her again... She's going to be pissed."

*****

Kaho paused for a moment in the middle of her prayers to the Gods of many paths. She sensed something wrong in the wind. Kaho stopped her prayers and immediately got up from the floor in the cave. She closed her eyes and spread her mind over the distance and found the disturbance.

"Ruki," Kaho whispered. Kaho forced her old body to run to the temple. She past the old doors of the cave shrine and ran down the steep stone steps that lead down to the temple. The forest blurred around Kaho as she ran faster and faster. If anyone had been observing Kaho they would note that she was moving too fast. So fast that Kaho was nothing more than streak of white to the naked eye of the observer. It was impossible yet Kaho was running that fast and quickly arrived the temple exhausted but without even resting her body Kaho opened the doors to Ruki's room. Inside was Ruki bleeding from the right shoulder with her eyes wide open in shock. The normally hard purple eyes where now dull and glassy. What really shocked Kaho at about the situation were not Ruki's condition but what was standing over her. 

"Ah, the keeper arrives," a silky voice said. The owner of the voice was not human. It wasn't even mortal.


	3. The Devil's Advocate and Broken Dreams

Cough... Sorry about the Ryou thing... I just watched the "Blame it on Ryou" episode just before I wrote the previous chapter and well... I had an inexplicable and hate filled dislike for Ryou at that moment. Can't really say why... I guess something about the entire intro for Ryou just rubbed me the wrong way. I was so blinded by sudden dislike for Ryou I wrote a slightly biased opinion of him. So sorry if I insulted any Ryou fans or if some readers didn't like it.

Kitsune in Japanese means fox or fox spirits... There are lots of Japanese legends on foxes and they're quite entertaining. You should try searching on the Internet to find some of these 'tails'. No pun intended. 

Lady Inari is the all-mother of Kitsune. She is believed to be progenitor of the Kitsune and is often shown to be a white haired fox with ten tails. According to legend she often watches over her children and descendants. At least that's what my mother tells me... anywhoo.

Anyway thank you KevinEC for reminding me to post a spoiler warning label for my fic. I forgot all about it. I was getting around to posting it but never had a chance so here it is.

****

Warning: This fic may contain spoilers of the Tamers universe that you might not want to know. If you don't want me to ruin for you don't read this fic.

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Gods that come and visit me while I'm asleep.  
Forgotten memories and broken promises.  
Powers beyond mortal strength and ken.  
Deals with the devil.  
And I thought life was boring. 

Kaho felt her breathe get caught in her throat. She had seen many things in her long eventful life at the temple as a result she was fairly inured to surprises. Ruki lying on the floor looking more dead than alive and bleeding from a small bite mark on her right shoulders was a small surprise. It was however a completely utterly shocking and large surprise to Kaho to see Lady Inari.

Inari sat down beside Ruki and reached out to stroke her hair.

"Such a strong child this one is," Inari purred contently. Her head was that of a white furred fox and dressed in light blue and green robe. She was currently stroking Ruki's face lightly with her hands. Ten white foxtails were elegantly spread on the floor and she picked Ruki up into her arms gently. With a matronly smile she began hold Ruki's limp and unresponsive body.

"Lady Inari...." Kaho managed to say shocked. She bowed respectively and raised her head up.

"Ah, yes the keeper of the paths... Do not worry I won't remain here for long... It is within an ancestor's right to see her descendants is it not?" Inari said. Inari's eyes looked through Ruki's glassy eyes and searched Ruki's soul.

"Is she?" Kaho began. Inari stopped Kaho before she said anything else.

"Yes she is all right. She is strong and beautiful, as I expected. Just like her father in many ways... She's so different from us though. So serious and so driven to find her path in life that she will stop at nothing. Perhaps she realizes what she is missing?" Inari mused. The ten foxtails flicked as one in an even rhythm. Then the tails stopped moving and Inari's eyes widen for a moment. A smile slowly but surely spread across her face.

"My, my, my.... Perhaps she isn't so different from us after all;" Inari chuckled delightedly and turned to Kaho with a shark like grin.

"I don't understand," Kaho managed to say dumbly.

"Expect company soon dear... Plenty of male company that is. I don't think my cute little descendant even realizes it. She's a kitsune like us after all," Lady Inari laughed.

*****

Ruki didn't understand what was going on. Who was this Renamon she was looking into? Whose ever heard of a white furred Renamon with a human body? Was she hallucinating? The trip must have taken a lot more energy than Ruki thought. Descendant? What were they talking about? Kitsune? Okay that was it... she was going to sleep and there was nothing they could do about it. Obviously she was suffering from hallucinations and insomnia.

Ruki closed her eyes and once more fell into her dream world. The dream was far more pleasant this time.

Ruki dreamed that she was home again and in her room but the entire place looked bigger now. It was then that Ruki realized that she had shrunk quite a bit. Ruki looked down and stared at her hands. They were smooth and not callused by the years of training that Ruki had put herself through, in fact they were amazingly small. Ruki experimentally made a fist and then opened it a few times.

"Ruki!" Seiko's voice called out and Ruki turned around. There stood Seiko smiling with Rumiko hovering nearby the door.

"Grandma?" Ruki managed to answer. Ruki noted her voice was more... childish. Truth be told she sounded like she was little child again. Ruki found that her body was walking towards her grandmother Seiko awkwardly. Seiko picked Ruki up into her arms and carried her out of the room. They walked down the hallway where Ruki could see the cherry tree in its full splendour. It seemed to spring or summer again and the garden was blooming into a riot of life. The sun was low in the sky and ready to dip beneath the earth and let night come through. The residential area was quiet and the distant smell of earthy leaves was in the air.

'That's weird... That cherry tree was destroyed on my birthday... I can't remember which birthday or how...' Ruki thought for a moment trying to grasp memories that she could scarcely remember. It was highly unusual that Ruki could not remember this part of her life.

"Ruki! Happy fourth birthday!" Rumiko said as she took Ruki from Seiko's arms into hers. Ruki fidgeted trying to remember what happen on her fourth birthday that was so important. 

'What was so important about this day? Something happen I'm sure of it but what? Why can't I remember? I usually have an excellent memory;" Ruki tried once again to break through her memory deadlock in vain.

"The birthday dinner is all set up and your father should be home soon," Seiko said smiling happily. The door to the room was open and dinner was set on the table as promised. There were four distinct dinner seats set up and the food was ready. A chocolate cake was set in the middle of the food with four unlit candles in the middle of it. Ruki was set down on the right hand side of the table with a small but rather cute plate with a cavorting fox in front of her.

'Oh yeah I remember these plates... the disgustingly cute ones that... that my father bought for me... Father?' Ruki blinked in surprise. She tried to remember what her father looked like but the face of her father remained blank. Her head began to hurt even more as she tried to remember and found that she was getting frustrated.

"He's late... He's usually always on time..." Rumiko said worried and looked up at the clock that said six thirty on it.

Ruki frowned a bit and Seiko seemed to notice her granddaughter's reaction to the news.

"Don't worry Ruki-chan... Your father's a good man he'll come. He promised you after all," Seiko said and sat down at the table, "dear I think you should sit down and wait for a bit. He always comes you know that."

'... Father never came back... I don't even remember his name or what he looked like,' Ruki began to realize. It genuinely hurt Ruki to think about it both physically and emotionally. Why couldn't she remember her father's face? There must be a picture somewhere at home that she could look at.

"I guess I'm just being paranoid... but I just can't shake off the feeling that something happened to him," Rumiko answered. She looked at the clock on the wall and then sat at the table. Rumiko began to frown a bit and sigh.

"That's because he's not coming back..." Ruki said in her childish voice out loud to the two women. It surprised Seiko and Rumiko immensely and now that Ruki thought about it, she was always was a quiet child when she was young. Talking was not something she did very often in her family, even now.

Seiko was the first to recover from Ruki's statement.

"Don't be silly Ruki. He's not going to disappear on us. I think you've gotten Ruki paranoid with your worry Rumiko," Seiko said disapprovingly at both her granddaughter and daughter.

'That's because it's the truth... Father's never coming back home, he never came back and no one knows what happened to him,' Ruki thought bitterly. The fact that they never found out what happened to him or found his body left the mystery wide open. Was he still alive? Did he run away? Somehow Ruki very much doubted that but it nagged at her for some strange reason. This day was a day of ill things and strange happenstance that she couldn't explain or remember for the most part. Something happened today but why couldn't Ruki remember? The more she thought about it the more her head hurt to think about it. Thoughts swirled chaotically in her head and tears threatened to spill from her eyes for no reason.

"I'm sorry mom but it's just that... Oh I don't know," Rumiko said frustrated at her inability to put the feeling into words.

Ruki got up from the table and walked out into the hall. Rumiko called out to her but Ruki ignored it completely. Ruki looked out the hallway into the garden. The shoji-styled glass doors had been thrown back and the fresh warm air swept through the house. The garden was beautiful as the sun shed its last dying light. The hallway was exposed to the outside world and elements. Ruki always loved sitting on the ledge of the hallway during the springtime when it was warmest. The sun shone down on the spot she standing during the afternoon and the garden was a perfectly placed to make it seem like a scenic piece of nature had been transported into the city.

'These door don't offer much protection or insulation in the winter... it's always freezing when the snow falls in winter,' Ruki thought idly but the tears she kept in her eyes that refused to fall still remained. She didn't know why she was so sad. She was over her father's mysterious disappearance wasn't she? How can she cry over a man she doesn't even remember? Perhaps because it was a part of her life that was taken away from her and she was angry over it. 

'Heaven help my father if I discover that the truth of his disappearance was because he ran away. He wouldn't live long enough to beg for mercy if he ever returned to home,' Ruki thought darkly and stared at the cherry tree blooming in the garden.

"Ruki! Come back to the dinner table!" Seiko voice rang out. Footsteps could be heard and Ruki knew that her grandmother had come to fetch her but she felt rooted on the spot and stared at the cherry tree. Something happened to the cherry tree but Ruki couldn't remember what it was. Then the tree began to sway and shiver in a non-existent wind. Ruki jumped back in surprise just as Seiko began to arrive in the hallway.

"Grandma... the cherry tree it's..." Ruki began but before she could say another word the tree burst into flames and an animalistic scream (or was it roar?) raged out from the tree. The tendrils of flames burned so hotly and so brightly that Ruki could feel it but surrounding vegetation and the house didn't burn. Flaming gout of fire boiled from the tree and a fox's head flying into the air towards the clouds could be seen. Its fiery orange red head had its maw open with sharp teeth lining the mouth. A howl erupted from the mouth of the fox and then dived downwards from the sky towards Ruki. The last words Ruki could hear were from her mother Rumiko.

"The pictures! They're being burned away! Every single one of them," Rumiko screamed in shock.

It was then that Ruki could see no more, it all became dark and the world became silent.

*****

"Hmm," Inari pondered for a moment unsure of what she had just saw. Ruki squirmed and sweated profusely. Ruki's face was set into grim sort of mixture of pain, sadness and fear.

"What is wrong with her?" Kaho asked respectfully. If it had been any other person but Lady Inari she would have demanded to know. It was highly unusual that Ruki would fear something, Ruki tended to set her mind to something and charge ahead with little thought that it might be a painful or messy outcome. Inari did not answer and her ten tails twitched with anticipation and then lowered in defeat.

"Alas my poor foolish descendant. Died without ever telling his daughter the truth but he tried before he died... How sad that she can never unlock her powers. No wonder she can never be at peace, after all how are you at peace when a piece of you is missing?" Inari managed to say finally. The eyes from the elegant fox headed lady seemed to sadden and a heavy sigh heaved from her chest.

Kaho sensed the waves of sadness radiate from Lady Inari and felt awkward in her presence. She had no idea what to say to Lady Inari to comfort her; Kaho was used to dealing with lesser spirits, servitors or messengers from the Gods not the Gods themselves. Lady Inari banished the sadness in one mighty effort and placed a determined eye on Ruki.

"Lady Inari, I do not understand what is going on. I know that Ruki is one of your many descendants but the strain of your presence is draining her of her strength. She is strong but not strong enough to support you indefinitely. I believe you must leave before you drain her completely and kill her," Kaho said as respectfully as possible. If there was anything that Kaho had learned over the years it was this, 'never ever piss off a God of the Spirit world unless you like the idea of living a life in hell'.

"Yes I know but all is not lost. Here in this child is a spark of the fire in all kitsune and perhaps one day she will be able return to spirit world and see us all... Now to keep my baka descendants in the spirit world from tormenting Ruki..." Inari trailed off and sighed. She placed Ruki carefully on the floor again and backed away. The body of Inari began to fade a bit and phase out here and there.

"I want you to know that you are to protect her Kaho..." Inari said, as she became more and more transparent.

"Protect her? If I try to protect Ruki she'll deliberately put herself in danger to prove to me that she can protect herself," Kaho said disbelievingly. This was going to be a problem for Kaho knew that Ruki hated receiving help in things that she believed she could take care of.

"It matters not! My other descendant will now undoubtedly know of Ruki and try to pull pranks on her thinking that Ruki can take it. Ruki could not possibly survive unless she awakens her potential. If you do not protect her, then I will blame you and put all responsibility on you if she is hurt in any way," Inari commanded Kaho in an imperious voice that brooked no argument. It was then that Inari disappeared into thin air and left Kaho standing by the door unsure. Ruki was still fast asleep and unaware of everything that had happen.

"Well... it looks like things won't be as boring as I thought it would," Kaho said out loud to the oblivious Ruki and sighed. It was going to be a long week.

*****

Ryou had finally finished packing his backpack. It had a few essential things that he would need and decided now was time to wake up his partner Monodramon. His parents were not going to happy to find that he had once again left home but Ryou tried not think about it. He didn't like worrying his parents but there was a possible battle to fight and he had no intention of missing it. Ryou's dreams had a tendency to be quite prophetic at times and he believed them without a doubt.

"Come on buddy. Time to rise and shine," Ryou whispered and shook Monodramon a bit. Sure enough the digimon stirred and grumbled a few choice words.

"There's no one to fight, so don't wake me up," Monodramon muttered.

"Well there might be one if you would wake up all ready," Ryou answered.

"Really?" Monodramon asked. The digimon was now fully awake and moving. Alert for his Tamer to tell him what he was going to fight.

"Whoa relax. I'm not sure what were up against but let me assure you buddy that it's pretty powerful. I think we might be facing a mega level Sakuyamon. I had this weird dream last night and saw a..." Monodramon finished the sentence for Ryou.

"A white furred fox headed woman with a tail in a robe."

"... You had the same dream too?"

"Yup and I saw the other Tamers in it too."

"... I wonder if the others had the same dream as well."

"One way to find out! Go to Shinjuku and smack them around for the answer!"

"We don't want to fight them Monodramon!"

"Can't I kick one of them? Pretty please!"

"....."

Ryou decided to ignore Monodramon and shouldered his backpack. He placed his D-arc on his belt and opened the door. Monodramon frowned a bit but followed his Tamer out of the house. They walked into the dirt country road with early morning sun barely peaking through the trees. They both had a long journey ahead.

A dark figure watched Ryou and Monodramon leave from a distant. It smiled and followed after them. It prowled in the distance making sure the duo did not notice its presence. Sure in it's gait and powerfully built, it walked without making a sound. Though one had ask why it was wearing a fancy Italian business suit and a pair of expensive sunglasses.

*****

"Morning everyone! Guess what?" Hirokazu proclaimed as he charged into the dining room of the Makino household.

"No and what is it?" Renamon answered unimpressed by Hirokazu's excitement.

"Aw spoilsport. We'll I open for your praise and kudos when I tell you," Hirokazu gloated happily.

"Get to the point Hirokazu, if it has anything to do with finding Ruki then tell us!" Takato demanded.

"Sheesh you're no better than Renamon," Hirokazu stated.

"Hirokazu just tell us all ready will ya?" Kenta joined in, getting annoyed by his friend's antics.

"All right. I found the phone number to Ryou's place!" Hirokazu crowed.

"You didn't find out Ryou's phone number! Ruki's grandmother did!" Terriermon proclaimed when he entered the dining room with Jen.

"Well I was there when she found the phone number! Doesn't that count?" Hirokazu challenged but only ended up into a sort of strange staring match with the diminutive Terriermon.

"I'm going to call him right now," Jen stated as he pulled out a mobile phone. Everyone however began to crowd around him and that made Jen a bit nervous.

"Guys do you mind?" Jen asked as he tried to get some more room. He was beginning to get claustrophobic. The others backed off reluctantly and waited.

Jen could hear the phone ring a few times before it finally was answered.

"Ryou if this is you, young man, you are in deep trouble!" A woman's voice stated in anger.

"Ryou? I'm not Ryou ma'am," Jen answered taken a back and then had a sudden sinking feeling.

"Oh you aren't? Sorry but Ryou's gone missing... Again!" The woman said hysterically, "all he left behind was a message saying he needed to go off somewhere to save someone or something and would return in a few days... That's what he said last time around!"

"Oh boy..." Jen said. The look on his face told everyone in the room that they had just hit a dead end.

"Well look on the bright side! We know that Ryou would only leave his folks because it was possible world endangering or destroying!" Terriermon said cheerfully.

"That's what we're afraid of..." Juri said quietly.

A silence permeated the atmosphere as the depressing news came into light. The group became quiet and were left in their own thoughts.

"Perhaps then I can help?" A voice said. Out in the hallway standing at the entrance of the dining room stood a blonde haired boy no older than them dressed in an immaculate black business suit with sunglasses. He smiled as if he was the only person who understood a joke. Renamon jumped up in surprise at the stranger's silent approach, she didn't even sense him coming.

"Wonderful an Yamaki wanna-be," Terriermon stated in disgust.

"Terriermon!" Jen scolded but even he had to admit the stranger looked a lot like Yamaki from Hypos with a different haircut and at a different age. The stranger just chuckled in amusement and reached into his pocket.

"No, my name is not Yamaki. Don't worry I'm not insulted, here's my business card," the boy said. He produced a small business card and threw it to Takato in one fluid motion. The card landed on the table face side up and stated the following information.

****

Devil's Advocate UnlimitedAbaddon

"I don't think I like the name of the business you just given... What do you want?" Takato said and looked at the blonde haired boy that called himself Abaddon. Takato felt very uneasy in Abaddon's presence.

"Mr. Matsuda... I believe that you are mistaken! It's not what I want... It's what you want particularly the location of a girl named Makino Ruki who disappeared recently," Abaddon stated innocently. There was a strange almost malicious aura around Abaddon that put no one at ease in his presence. He seemed to know some info on Ruki's location but was the group really desperate enough to deal with this guy?


	4. FailureSuccess

__

Failed ventures don't necessarily mean that everything is lost.  
Failure may prop up the next success.  
Or lead the enemy into a trap unwary.

Abaddon continued to smile but remained outside in the hallway. He awaited a reply from Takato. 

"How do you know about Ruki?" Takato demanded. He tried to sound firm but he felt incredibly uncomfortable in Abaddon's presence. It just felt wrong and all the digimon began to bristle, waiting for the slightest hostile move from Abaddon.

"I know many things Mr. Matsuda! The question is what do you want to know?" Abaddon continued. He stood there smugly and removed his sunglasses revealing one blue and one green eye. He idly cleaned his sunglasses with a handkerchief from his breast pocket and seemed to forget that there was six digimons ready to blow him away.

"How about you tell us and you get nothing," Renamon threatened. She did not like this mysterious boy and most of all she did not like what he implied. How could he possibly know Ruki's location unless he was spying on her? How could he know without letting betraying his presence around Renamon?

"Now, now Renamon. I'm a businessman! If I went around doing my services for free then no one would pay me," Abaddon explained coolly not bothering to look up and address Renamon. He continued to clean his sunglasses until he finally slipped them back on and put away his handkerchief. He looked back at the group with a magnanimous smile and waited for their response.

"Sorry, people tend to get suspicious when the business's name is 'Devil's Advocate Unlimited'," Jen stated. He eyed the boy very carefully and wondered briefly how he came into the house without anyone knowing.

"Such suspicious paranoia, I'm hurt," Abaddon said mockingly, "it matters not then. You shall come to me for the information everyone does eventually."

"If you hurt Ruki, I'll..." Renamon began.

"Is that a threat? You are in no position to threaten me. Don't worry Renamon, it is far more profitable if I don't harm Ms. Makino at this moment," Abaddon continued with a slightly mocking voice.

Renamon attacked with a Fox Leaf Arrowhead, which Abaddon avoided easily by jumping ten feet backward into the air. The attack hit the outside garden wall and Abaddon easily landed on an undamaged part of the wall.

The digimon almost seemed ready to blow Abaddon into the afterlife but an unexpected voice of reason stopped them.

"Don't attack guys! Let's hear him out," Juri ordered firmly. Everyone blinked in surprised at the firmness in Juri's voice and the digimon withheld their attacks, for now.

"Why thank you Ms. Katou... I will not harm Ms. Makino since as I stated before it is more profitable if she is still alive. Second it is more likely that she will harm herself rather than me harming her so don't think I'm out to murder her or anything. Third I have information, which would really be a use to you, but due to my company's ... er policy I cannot give it away free. Information surround the potential deal is all right but anything else is an obvious infraction against company policy," Abaddon explained in a clear and patient voice.

"So if we pay you, then we give us the information?" Kenta asked.

"In short yes Mr. Kitagawa, I don't want to harm you but I will if you force me to," Abaddon continued.

"Well I don't trust you," Marine Angemon fired back. At this Abaddon sighed and looked helplessly at the group.

"Whether you trust me or not, hardly matter but... I will keep in touch. If you change your mind and wish to speak business rip up the business card I gave you and call my name," Abaddon said defeated. There was nothing dramatic about his exit; he simply ceased to exist where he was standing. The group absorbed the information that Abaddon had provided them and it only set to increase their anxiety. What if he was telling the truth? What if he was lying? How were they going to explain to Rumiko about the garden's walls?

Takato took a look at the partially destroyed wall that Renamon had accidentally hit with her attack. Outside surveying the damage was Seiko who calmly looked at the fallen mortar and stone. Everyone winced and looked a little sheepish.

"So... What exactly happened here?" Seiko asked. She was clearly not happy by the damage done to the wall though she probably didn't blame them.

*****

Ruki woke up tired and confused from her strange dream. Her eyes were not focusing despite her best effort and her head felt as though it had taken a trip around a whirlpool. She turned over onto her right shoulder to try and get up and immediately came to regret it. Pain shot up her body like a shock and Ruki involuntarily made a sound of pain. Grasping her injured shoulder with her left hand, she tried massaging away the pain. The pain shattered the haze of drowsiness that idled her.

"Ah... damn it... Stupid shoulder, stupid birthday, STUPID FATHER! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Ruki screamed out. With that Ruki laid on the flat of her back to alleviate the pressure on her right shoulder. Her hands flew up to her face and covered her eyes. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes and she tried to stop them. The blankets that once covered her were in disarray and her things were neatly placed in a corner of the room. Ruki however didn't notice anything and kept her eyes covered. She laid there for a few moments before finally forcing her body to sit up straight.

The room was dark and Ruki's left hand immediately traveled to her right shoulder to find out what was hurting it. She quickly discovered that bandage gauze was wrapped around her shoulder and her hair had mysteriously grown a full eight inches. In fact her hair was spilling over her shoulders and went past her shoulder blades before stopping somewhere along the lower bottom of her back.

"What the hell?" Ruki said immediately at the realization of her newly grown hair and bandaged shoulder.

"Ruki?" Kaho's voice could be heard from the sliding door. It opened to reveal a rather frazzled looking Kaho whose robes were somewhat askew from who knows what. The old woman's quick eyes searched Ruki over and blinked in surprise at what she saw.

"What are you staring at?" Ruki said less than happy at her newfound injury and longer hair.

"Well... it's just that your hair is longer than..." Kaho never finished her sentence, Ruki interjected and glared at her angrily.

"Yes I know that but what happened? I have bandages on me;" Ruki demanded an immediate answer. Kaho frowned at the lack of patience, which Ruki demonstrated but decided to reply with a less than satisfactory answer.

"You injured yourself," Kaho deadpanned. Ruki glared at Kaho even harder.

"That's not the type explanation I want," Ruki stated.

"Very well then, but you'll probably think I'm insane when I tell you. Your ancestor Lady Inari, goddess of all kitsune, visited you. To come here she needed a bit of your energy and so she took a small bite into your shoulder. As for your longer hair I have no idea," Kaho answered.

Ruki took a few seconds to digest the information that Kaho gave her and blinked. Ruki simply stopped glaring and looked at Kaho as if she had gone insane or went senile on her.

"Okay run that by me again..." Ruki asked clearly thinking that Kaho had finally snapped and gone crazy.

"I said that your ancestor Lady Inari visited you... When I said you were a kitsune I didn't know you were literally a kitsune. I thought you just had an unusually strong connection with them," Kaho explained. Ruki chose to ignore Kaho after answering and immediately checked out her longer hair with her hands. Kaho rolled her eyes and immediately got a mirror out for Ruki from a closet. Ruki stood up easily enough and wordlessly took the mirror out of Kaho's hands and looked at herself. Sure enough the hair was much longer than what Ruki had remembered it to be last time she checked. There was no way Ruki could put her long hair up into its customary spiky ponytail. Ruki also noticed she could feel the individual grooves and nicks in the mirror's wooden casing very easily and how strange it felt running her fingers through her hair. The subtle smell of flowers and incense floating around in the air like a breeze. The sound of rushing water from the nearby mountain stream and rustling leaves. She could see the small letters written on a plaque behind Kaho that was about hundred meters away clearly and could read them. The onslaught of senses surprised Ruki to the extreme and shocked her tired brain with sensory overload. Ruki dropped the mirror in surprise and then something exceedingly strange happened. Everything seemed to go into slow motion for Ruki and she could see the mirror falling from her hands in almost painful descent. There was plenty of time for Ruki to think before reacting.

Questions such as "what the hell was that?" and "why the hell can I feel things so starkly?" and most of all "what the hell does Kaho mean by 'I didn't know you were literally a kitsune'?".

Ruki immediately let her hands grab the mirror before it even fell halfway between it's descent. She stood back up and faced Kaho who looked a bit surprised. To Kaho the mirror was falling to floor quickly and immediately planned to bring the broom out until Ruki somehow managed to grab it. The problem was Kaho didn't even see Ruki's hands move to grab the mirror, it was too fast for her eyes to see. Kaho soon quickly realized that Ruki's senses were active.

"... Oh boy... this maybe a lot more complicated than I thought," Kaho said. Ruki looked at Kaho baffled by the statement.

*****

An ancient battle was taking place between Ryou, the legendary Tamer, and his partner Monodramon. One that had stayed with them since the time they first been together and with no end in sight. Ryou probably would have enjoyed it if it were anything less tedious and monotonous.

"Trains... Why does it always have to be trains when we go traveling?" Monodramon complained a bit. Luckily there was no one on the train car at the moment but it didn't change the fact it was incredibly boring watching the country pass by. The problem to Monodramon's mind was there was nothing to do on the train.

"Because I can't drive a car and this is the cheapest way to travel," Ryou answered the digimon's question for the umpteenth time. He casually leaned back into the seat and tried to relax a bit. He wondered what exactly the meaning of his dream meant.

"Why couldn't we bring the game boy with us?" Monodramon whined. He casually forget to remember that the last time he had brought his game boy, he had beaten every single game he had and tried to 'borrow' some from a nearby electronics store without Ryou's permission.

"Don't remember what happened last time? You've already busted it once and then you ran out of batteries but didn't have money to buy more so you went into a store and..." Ryou began listing off what problems the annoying piece of electronic gaming equipment had brought them.

"Okay! I get the idea all ready! Get off my case!... I'm bored. Why do we have to be on a train?"

"Monodramon, for the last time we are on a train because something big is up! I thought you wanted to come so you could beat the crap out of the next enemy?"

"I do but why do I have to wait?"

Ryou sighed and threw up his hands in defeat.

'I have faced countless dangers, saved the world god knows how many times, defeated Millenniumon three times yet I cannot defeat Monodramon's impatience... I guess I'm not the greatest Tamer in the world,' Ryou thought. Then Ryou felt somewhat cold as if the temperature in the train car went down.

"My we have a rather impatient young one here don't we now?" A slick refined voice with what sounded like a Russian accent drawled from the end of the train car clearly. Ryou got up from his seat and turned around to face the voice. The sight that greeted him was what seemed to be a humanoid tiger who was dressed in an Italian business suit with a pair of sunglasses. The tiger-like being had an air of sinister sophistication and gave Ryou a rather toothy grin that showed the two largest canines in it's mouth quite prominently. Ryou immediately lifted up his D-arc and scanned the mysterious being. No data showed up and Ryou frowned.

"Really now," the tiger said a little irritated," you thought I was 'a' digimon? I should feel insulted."

"Well name a few things that look like a tiger that stands on two feet and wear business suits as a fashion statement because I can't think of any," Ryou retorted a little annoyed. If a fight broke out between him and the tiger thing, Ryou would be fighting blind.

Monodramon bristled at the tiger's presence and readied to attack at the slightest provocation. The tiger ignored the obviously hostile looks he was getting from the duo.

"Allow me to introduce myself Mr. Akiyama and Monodramon. I am Ruksasha at your service. Here's my business card," Ruksasha announced and immediately got a card out from his breast pocket. He threw the card towards Ryou, which Ryou caught easily. Too easily, Ryou could have sworn that the card was actually guided to him but couldn't be sure. The throw should have sent the card careening through the air and land a short distance in front of Ruksasha but somehow the card travelled five meters in a straight trajectory. Ryou read the card immediately and saw what it said.

****

Devil's Advocate Unlimited  
Ruksasha

Ryou frowned at the name of the business at wearily watched Ruksasha for any hostile movements. Ruksasha ignoring the weary look on Ryou's face sat down in one of the train car seats and got a Cuban cigar out from his pocket. Ruksasha played with cigar with his hands or was it his paws? In any case he lights the cigar up and took a deep puff.

"I don't think I like the name of your business here," Ryou managed to respond.

Ruksasha gave the same toothy grin that made Ryou wonder if he was grimacing or smiling.

"Oh don't worry, no one seems to really like the name of business but it's rather accurate considering the business we do Mr. Akiyama," Ruksasha stated while smoking his cigar.

"Okay, then what do you want?"

"Always me isn't it? No, you see a more accurate question you should be asking yourself Mr. Akiyama is 'what do I want'?"

Ryou felt more than a little suspicious of Ruksasha but attacking someone for no good reason was not his style of fighting.

"What I want is to take this outside, do a smack down and see who wins?" Monodramon replied, obviously he felt less than warm and fuzzy about Ruksasha.

"Hold Monodramon, if he attacks us then you can delete him," Ryou answered.

Ruksasha simply waved off the death threat.

"Yes well I can tell you what you want Mr. Akiyama. You want a fight and you want to see the other Tamers who are your friends. Maybe save the life of a certain violet eyes girl called Makino Ruki? I have to admit Mr. Akiyama; she is one good-looking chick. Now if she was only ten years older..." Ruksasha hinted and made a slightly perverted dreamy look on his face. He sighed eventually as if reminding himself that Ruki was too young for him.

"You know where she is?" Ryou reacted to Ruksasha's less than wholesome comment on Ruki.

"Oh sorry did I hit a nerve? And the answer to your question is yes;" Ruksasha stated getting a rather perverse pleasure out the entire exchange.

"You're pushing it pal," Ryou retorted. Monodramon readied to attack at his partner's order.

"Now we don't have to get violent here Mr. Akiyama. I'm just here to do business if you're interested of course," Ruksasha said calmly.

"Well how about I tell you I don't want to do business."

"Are you sure? You're running around blind without a clue where your girlfriend is and yet you insist you don't want my information."

"I'll find it on my own! I don't need your damn help! I'm not the greatest Tamer in the world because I went around asking for help from anyone else!" Ryou proclaimed angrily. There was something that agitated Ryou about Ruksasha and he didn't like it. Ruksasha was not someone he would like to trust with anything.

Ruksasha made another toothy grin that Ryou wasn't quite sure if it was a smile or grimace but Ruksasha seemed to wave off the anger that Ryou had as if it was insignificant. Apparently Ruksasha was either incredibly brave or stupid or completely ignorant of what Ryou could do to him.

"Your arrogance may cost Ruki her life and you will be responsible for it," Ruksasha stated smugly.

"Monodramon!"

"Got it Ryou!" Monodramon answered and attacked Ruksasha. He charged towards where the relaxing Ruksasha was and launched his attack.

"Beat Knuckle!" 

The attack reduced the seat into splintered mass of junk. Dust, debris and other things flew into the air and when it finally settled all that was left a completely totalled train seat.

"Hm was that really necessary?" Ruksasha asked to Monodramon. He stood right beside the rookie digimon with nary a speck of dust on his immaculate suit and seemed not in the least bit surprised. Monodramon looked up at him dumbfounded and before he could react Ruksasha kicked him in the stomach sending him flying down the entire length of the train car. Monodramon eventually reached the end of the train car and crashed into the door. A dent was visible in the door and the glass was cracked.

Ryou reached for his cards but before he could Ruksasha was right in front of him and grabbed Ryou's arm in a painful manner. Needless to say Ryou couldn't do anything.

"Now Mr. Akiyama please listen to me for the moment. Though you may not want the information you may want to consider my service in the future. If you need me please rip up the business card and call my name," Ruksasha explained and grinned.

"$%&^ you!" Ryou responded. Ryou kicked Ruksasha in the stomach but it didn't do much other than leave a footprint on the suit. Ruksasha sighed in annoyance at the mark on his suit.

"Pleasure meeting your acquaintance Mr. Akiyama," Ruksasha replied. With that Ruksasha let go of Ryou's arm. Ryou attempted to punch Ruksasha but his punch never landed. Ruksasha simply faded away and disappeared, leaving a beleaguered Tamer and digimon.

"Okay... Now it's personal," Monodramon announced as he painfully extracted himself out of the train doors.

"I don't like this one bit..." Ryou muttered and picked up the business card that was left behind. Ryou resisted the urge to rip the card up and pocketed the card. He would get back at the unnerving Ruksasha; he just needed to be patient.

*****

"So I take it that you have meet with Akiyama?" Abaddon asked Ruksasha.

"Indeed... but look what he did to my suit!" Ruksasha groused. Ruksasha took a seat in one of the comfortable leather chairs in the room. Abaddon stood at the window and looked out of it. The city sprawled in front of him and the window was the only barrier between him and the outside.

The room the two were in was large with many books spilling out from the shelves. In one corner was a computer with the latest equipment and digimon playing cards scattered on the desk in no order whatsoever. In the middle of this room, boxed in between two shelves of books and a single window, were two leather chairs and a table. On the said table was an untouched and prepared board of chess pieces.

"It's your move Abaddon... What are you going to do?" Ruksasha asked as he looked over the finely wrought chess pieces. The blonde haired boy continued to look out the window ignoring Ruksasha.

"The move that must begin everything and end everything... I hope that what we are doing will not destroy us in the end..." Abaddon responded not looking away from the window.

"The plan is all ready in motion. There is nothing to stop it now... Come on Abaddon, it's your move."

"Perhaps..."

Abaddon tore his eyes away from the window and headed over to the table where Ruksasha was sitting. He took off his sunglasses and looked over the undisturbed board with his blue and green eyes.

"My first move," Abaddon announced and reached out for a chess piece to move.


	5. Pursuit

__

Could you be dead?   
You always were two steps ahead   
of everyone.   
We'd walk behind while you would run. 

Rumiko found that she couldn't concentrate at all. She could not concentrate on her work, she could concentrate on what she was doing, and she couldn't concentrate on anything but getting the photo shoot done as soon as possible and looking for Ruki.

'Ruki will come back, she has to come back because God knows what I'll do if I lose her,' Rumiko thought as struck another pose in front of the camera. She was at her photo shoot but wanted to get out of the damn dress she was in and go looking for her daughter.

"Okay Rumiko baby, one more time! You're gorgeous in front of the camera!" The photographer announced in English. Rumiko understood what he said and for the first time ever Rumiko felt like punching the daylights out of the British fashion photographer Ryan Linvail. She did not want to be stuck in front of a camera knowing that her daughter was missing. Rumiko couldn't lose Ruki like the way she lost her husband Katoru. She would be completely lost if she lost another person precious to her. Ruki looked and acted so much like him at times that it amazed Rumiko. He was strong and quiet yet overbearing outside most of the time, yet kind and warm inside. That was one of the main reasons that Rumiko fell in love with Katoru all so many years ago. Rumiko however picked up a few bad habits from him that her mother Seiko probably wouldn't have approved and most likely shock her daughter, Ruki.

Rumiko forced a smile on her face while inside she screaming various obscenities at Ryan that would probably make everyone who knew her go into shock or blush. Example one of a bad habit that Rumiko picked up from knowing Katoru. The photo shoot was all ready an hour overtime and as her husband commented about the entire modeling career.

"Let me get this straight! The prick pays you money to strut around in clothing, pose and $#!& like that? What the &^%& is he? A voyeur that gets off on taking pictures of women with their clothing on? He must not get any from his mother. Cause this has got to be the easiest job I've ever heard."

Rumiko posed again in front of the white screen and smiled. She was somewhat happier remembering her husband's first reaction when he heard that she wanted to model. Katoru let her do it of course, but the idea to him was completely foreign. Not too mention that Katoru noticed that her first fashion photographer was making less than polite passes on Rumiko. He made sure that she was safe from the pervert and a success. He helped her career by finding jobs and photo ops to do. Strolling down memory lane for Rumiko however did not end the torturously long photo shoot. Rumiko became a bit desperate and decided to pray.

'God, I'll make you a deal. I'll stop dating for an entire week... No make that an entire month! If you'll just make Ryan %^&@ing stop the damn photo shoot and call it a day!' Rumiko thought as another flash from the camera went off. Hundreds of pictures had been taken all ready and Ryan didn't seem satisfied yet. If God had been listening at that moment when Rumiko made her deal then He enacted his will on the situation and made Ryan announce the end of the photo shoot.

"All right! Let's call it a day!" Ryan said as he finished the last shot from the camera. Rumiko breathed a sigh of relief and headed straight to her makeup room to get of the dress. While she walked towards the exit of the room she decided renege on deal that she made with God.

'Oh yeah God? I lied,' Rumiko proclaimed in her head. Not being the type that likes being cheated out of a deal, God threw the situation back at Rumiko's face. 

As Rumiko headed towards the exit, Ryan stopped her.

"Rumiko I need to talk to you for a sec," Ryan said smiling an oily sort way that screamed dishonesty. Rumiko refrained from her urge of screaming in utter frustration and strangling Ryan.

"What is it?" Rumiko said politely in English, trying to keep venom from entering its tone.

"You see your become more and more famous, not only in Japan but in Europe as well! I've been thinking that you should move yourself to Europe and do modeling over there! I know lots of people in the industry, we could really sky rocket your profile if we do," Ryan explained excitedly. He didn't even allow Rumiko to answer and barrelled straight on ahead.

"Not only that your daughter. Ruki's her name right? She's a good-looking one! Imagine this! The daughter and mother duo of the modeling world!" Ryan said as he dreamed up new angles to increase Rumiko's and his own fame. Rumiko felt mildly ill, Ruki hated modeling and Rumiko was starting to accept that her daughter didn't want to do it. If Ruki learned that Rumiko had agreed to do some modeling contracts with Ruki, there would be hell to pay. 

"What we need to do is to get your daughter into the business. Small stuff really to start her off and then we have to present her to a couple of agencies in Europe! It should be easy!" Ryan continued heedless of the trembling fist that Rumiko had by her sides. Katoru would probably label Ryan as a 'no good bastard whose dick's been cut off and shoved up his ass and who BS's a lot'. There was no way in hell Rumiko was leaving Japan and her missing daughter behind.

'Must not hit Ryan... Must not hit Ryan...' Rumiko chanted to herself as if mere words would prevent violence.

"Oh yeah... I've noticed a few things about you Rumiko. You're the fast and loose types aren't you?" Ryan said slyly. He looked over Rumiko's figure with an appreciating eye.

'Oh good grief! This @$$#@!# thinks I would go out with him? He doesn't even look like he could handle his own wet dream,' Rumiko thought bitterly.

"I know a few hotels where we could... you know 'discuss' business," Ryan hinted. Rumiko had enough and shoved Ryan aside. This surprised him and he almost fell over onto his back. Rumiko stalked out of the room and into the makeup room to get out of her dress. Ryan blinked and wondered what he said to make her so mad.

"Must be that time of month for her..." Ryan sagaciously observed. He didn't stop Rumiko from leaving and decided to meet her after she got changed. Then again, why wait for her to get changed? Why not just go right in? Ryan smirked and entered into the changing room that Rumiko just went in. 

A half-minute latter after much cursing, slapping, punching and insulting Ryan was thrown out of the changing room. He was paled faced and had a beautiful black eye that graced his features plus some other bruises. He lay there shocked and silent before finally commenting.

"Definitely her time of month," Ryan said as he painfully extracted himself off the floor. The door opened violently hitting his back and propelling him into the wall. Out came a completely indignant Rumiko who gave her best example of the "Makino" glare of death that Ruki often gave out to everyone. A glare that promised much pain and suffering if the person didn't go away. Ryan took the hint and left Rumiko alone.

'Perhaps some of the bad habits that I picked up aren't so bad after all,' Rumiko thought as she watched the retreating Ryan.

*****

Ruki soon discovered she had three very strange urges when her senses were heightened. First thing she wanted to do was experiment and experience her senses which included running her hands through her hair to feel it, taking a bite out of a tree leaf and tasting it, looking at the finer details of a flower and so on.

The second thing that she had urges to do was run around and do something or play a practical joke on the farmers or dance and sing or some other silly and pointless thing. It was completely utterly foreign to Ruki because she had no reason to do such things but her brain was insistent on it. The only answer that she got from her brain for doing such pointless and often destructive things was 'because'.

The third and possibly most disturbing urge that Ruki wanted to do was look for her fellow Tamers and do... inappropriate things with them. Both male, female and digimon. She began to notice just how damn cute Takato was when he pouted, or how attractive Ryou's blue eyes were or the nice ass that Jen had or how damn beautiful Renamon and Juri were when they wanted to be. To name just a few of the little things that ran through her head.

Ruki steeled her self-control and discipline to control her urges. It was disturbing because just moments before did not suffer from such an obvious lack of reserve, control and quite possibly sanity.

"Holy $#!&," Ruki finally commented as she tried to cap her urges. They finally subsided a bit and were under her control but it was tenuous at best. Anything could ruin her tight but frail self-control. The potential embarrassment of losing control over her urges however managed to galvanize her common sense into action.

Kaho watched Ruki concerned but unobtrusive. Her calm eyes observed Ruki in silence and waited for Ruki to say something.

"Is this normal?" Ruki asked confused. What is wrong with me? No, I do not want to do that to Guilmon!

"I have no idea... I've never had to deal with one who is about to ascend..." Kaho commented. The old woman shrugged in defeat and watched Ruki struggle.

"Ascend? What is that supposed to mean?" Ruki asked out of curiosity and annoyance. Where are these... feelings coming from? Ruki absently rubbed her hand through her hair and then forced herself to stop.

"Ruki... You're a kitsune... You're about to be... completed;" Kaho tried to explain as clearly as possible. In truth Kaho had no idea what was going to happen to Ruki. It was a mystery to Kaho, never in her fifty-nine years at the temple had she ever seen anyone about ascend or meet the 'Gods' of the spirit world.

"Okay then how do I stop myself from becoming 'complete'?" Ruki asked. An urge to find some plum wine and drink it boiled up from within her.

"I thought you wanted to find what you were looking for? This is what you have been missing for all those years," Kaho commented amazed.

"Yes I want to find what was missing but I don't want to these urges to run around and..." Ruki couldn't finish her sentence. A perverted mental picture of doing Ryou, Takato, Jen, Hirokazu, Renamon and Juri all at the same time popped into her head. Ruki shuddered and tried purging the mental image.

'I am not a god damn slut!' Ruki roared at her uncooperative brain. Her urges still came barrelling down through mind.

"I think what your going through is temporary Ruki. It should go away in a few days... What are theses urges of yours anyway?" Kaho asked.

"Other than the fact I want to find my friends and *%#$ them all!" Ruki shouted at Kaho in embarrassment. Kaho coughed lightly and was about to say something rather inappropriate but decided not to.

"I'll... go get something for you to eat Ruki. You should get into some clean clothing;" Kaho commented and beat a hasty retreat from Ruki.

"That doesn't help my problem at all!" Ruki shouted after Kaho. She blushed in embarrassment and started to pace around her room. Ruki began to rant out loud as she paced around her room.

"This cannot be happening to me! My mother is the one who acts like a whore! Not me! Gah! Why is this happening to me!" Ruki shouted in frustration. Her mind was in chaos and she began to feel her urges crack through her control.

"Because you never had much choice in the matter and insulting your mother isn't going to get you anywhere," a young male voice answered in an annoyed tone. It was right behind Ruki and she didn't hear his approach. She whirled around and saw a rather handsome blonde haired boy in a business suit. He was frowning and in one of his hands was a pair of sunglasses. His blue and green eyes looked at Ruki levelly.

"Sen?" Ruki intoned shocked.

*****

Takato sighed and entered the Matsuda Bakery. They had spent some time discussing the strange boy, Abaddon and what to do with the offer he made. Takato was worried, what if Abaddon was telling the truth? What if Ruki was really in danger? What did he mean by she is more of a danger to herself? So many what ifs and so few answer to his questions. They all ready knew Ruki was no longer in Tokyo but what good was that information? Ruki could be anywhere in Japan by now or she could be dead. Takato pushed away the thought of Ruki being dead, negative thinking such as that would only depress him and send Rumiko into hysterics once more.

Ruki's mother seemed more than frightened about the possibility of never seeing her daughter again. So frightened that she was speechless and could only tremble and cry. 

"Damn it Ruki. Why can't you see the pain your putting your mother and grandmother through?" Takato asked out loud as he walked upstairs to his room. He then slumped into his bed and began to think about it.

Ruki had been getting along so well with them. Why did she leave them? Was it something that they did? Impossible. What could they have possibly done to make her leave? Except be her friend and try to understand her? Nothing made sense to Takato. Ruki seemed happier and more contented lately. The coldness in her character was still there despite warming up but her smiles, still quite rare, made him overlook it.

Takato groaned and wondered why he was thinking so intently about Ruki's smile. Then again there was a time when he and Jen thought it was impossible for her to smile. Boy, were they wrong when they first saw her smile after a battle. Then they assumed she would never smile for anything except after winning a battle or succeeding in something either. Her victory smile from such things was haughty, cold and distant like a majestic mountain in the distance. They were wrong again when they saw her smile with joy and laughed when they baked bread together so many months ago. A smile that light up the darkest regions of one's soul, precious as a gem and rarer than anything Takato knew about. It was different from the smile that Juri often gave out to everyone. A smile that was given so freely that it became regular part of her but with Ruki such a smile about anything made it feel special.

Takato stopped thinking and stared up to the ceiling of his room. He was confused about it all. There was no reason that he could see that would make Ruki leave. She used to be such a loner and now... A loner...

The idea clicked in Takato's head immediately. Ruki had always been a sort of loner, even within the group. Ruki wanted to get away from them and be alone.

"That's it!" Takato shouted out loud and tried to get off his bed. Unfortunately he accidentally slipped and fell off his bed, which was rather high up. He hit the ground painfully and rubbed his aching back from the fall. He cursed his clumsiness and then realized he had to tell everyone his theory why Ruki left.

"I've gotta call Jen!" Takato realized and immediately picked himself off the floor and opened the door. He went out of his room and then slipped again. This time he fell down all the steps and lay on the bottom of the stairwell.

"... Why is this happening to me?" Takato groaned in pain.

*****

Jen was busy typing away at his computer. He was checking airport passengers' lists in an attempt to find Ruki. Though he highly doubted that Ruki would take such an expensive route. As he had expected nothing came up.

"Found anything?" Terriermon asked as he sat on Jen's bed.

"No... I just finished the airport passengers' list... Now to start on the train passengers' list... This is going to be fun," Jen said as he began to type away into the computer. As he had expected there were hundreds, if not millions of passengers using trains. Jen began to methodically cut the list size down to size.

Tokyo trains lines leaving city only.... 1,903,123 registered passengers....

Female..... 829,912 registered passengers....

Age 11..... 143,043 registered passengers...

Name Makino Ruki...... 942 registered passengers....

Shinjuku..... 100 registered passengers...

Jen lightly hit his head against the computer monitor screen.

"A hundred girls have the name Makino Ruki? Wow... that's a lot and they all live in Shinjuku!" Terriermon commented.

"I guess I better start looking through them all and we're not even sure that she took a train out of Tokyo in Shinjuku either so we might have to check those other passengers," Jen said tiredly.

"But there are almost a thousand of them!" Terriermon noted.

"That's why hit my head against the screen... Wait a second... Ruki was gone in the early morning so..." Jen typed onto his computer more input to cut down on the list.

Morning trains... 15 registered passengers...

"Well that should make it easier... I hope we can find Ruki quickly and get back on that session we were having..."

"Way to go Jen!... Session?... Oh you're a sly one, looking for your one true love who will apply a generous amount of leather, whipped creams and some other things... Never knew you were the type."

"Terriermon it's not like that! It's a card game session we were both playing!"

"What?! You expect to believe that? I know the little looks you give her sometime." 

Jen blushed and Terriermon smirked at the embarrassed look on Jen's face. Terriermon's smirk soon wore off when Shiuchon burst through the door.

"Terriermon! We need to play!" Shiuchon squealed. Behind the young Tamer was ever patient Lopmon who gave Terriermon a piteous look. Terriermon paled at the sight of Shiuchon and her enthusiastic tone.

"NO! JEN HELP ME!" Terriermon grabbed Jen's arm and tired to hold on as Shiuchon began pulling on Terriermon's ear to make him let go.

"Why should I?" Jen stated smirking at how the tables turn.

"NO! NOT THE PRINCESS PRETTY PANTS TREATMENT! JEN HELP ME! I'M SORRY!" Terriermon shouted in terror. His grip finally slipped off of Jen's arm and he was dragged away by Shiuchon so quickly that Jen was amazed how fast his little sister moved.

"... Maybe I was too cruel to let Shiuchon take him..." Jen commented to himself.

"JEN YOU NO GOOD B******!" Terriermon shouted back.

"Watch your mouth Terriermon!" Jen shouted back.

"Oh my Terriermon has a potty mouth but don't worry Nurse Shiuchon will fix that! Won't we Lopmon?" Shiuchon said reprovingly at Terriermon's words.

"AHHH!!!" Terriermon screamed.

'Perhaps I'm not cruel enough...' Jen thought to himself as he closed his bedroom door to drown out Terriermon's pleas. He went straight back onto the computer and started to check the first file. He still felt fairly embarrassed by Terriermon's comment on Ruki. It was accurate but he didn't really have a chance with her. That didn't kill his attraction, if anything it only increased it. 

'I must be a glutton for abuse or I am an idiot when it comes to crushes...' Jen noted to himself when he thought about it. It was just that Ruki was different from many people he had met before. The people he knew were polite, nice and well... normal but Ruki was completely the opposite. She was strong, rude and driven and different from all the girls he had meet before. Where most girls slap a guy in the face, Ruki would punch the guy out. Strong, confident and beautiful and so... actually Jen didn't know what it was that also drew him towards Ruki. There was just something about her that made him feel... happy. She didn't need a stable ground to forge ahead in life; she wanted randomness, challenge and perfection through external change. The opposite from him and he constantly wondered why Ruki would go to such lengths.

When he had first met Ruki, he believed she was merely lost and thought she could only find what she was trying to achieve through fighting. It was destructive and it was getting her nowhere, yet she kept on claiming that it wasn't true. He began to see it was just another way people could express themselves.

"Fighting gives me purpose!" Ruki once proclaimed.

"But the fight itself has no purpose! You just fight because you can!" He remembered arguing back.

"To become stronger is not a peaceful path. The path to perfection. That is my purpose."

"Perfection doesn't exist."

"I know... that's why I pursue it."

Jen sighed and still wondered why she would pursue a path that was impossible to achieve. She was always a one of kind of person. She didn't seem to mind that she was alone on her path, though Renamon pursued it as well. Alone she acted she was strong but in truth Jen could see it was a flawed illusion. Alone? No one could live without others in their life.

Jen noted that the file he was looking at was not the Ruki he was looking for. He clicked on another file and thought about Abaddon and his offer. What did Abaddon have for information? Surely it wasn't just Ruki's location, Jen could find where Ruki went by looking through passenger lists though it was a painstakingly slow process looking through each file separately every time a Makino Ruki name came up. Abaddon didn't unnerve him for some strange reason while everyone was set on the edge by his mere presence. Juri didn't feel threatened by Abaddon's presence either yet almost everyone was ready to kill him. In fact Jen found Abaddon's presence almost pleasant to be around. Another mystery to add his pile of work.

"AHHHH! LOPMON YOU'RE BETRAYING ME TOO?" Terriermon's shout could be heard.

"HEY IT'S NOT MY FAULT! YOU FORCED ME TO GO THROUGH THE "TEA PARTY"! TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY!" Lopmon shouted back.

"Hold still Terriermon!" A quieter voice belonging to Shiuchon said.

Jen deftly ignored all of their shouts and filed through all 15-passenger information on Makino Ruki. Nothing came up, all the girls listed were either leaving the city to return home, go on a school trip or something like that. None them looked like a certain red headed purple girl he was looking for. Jen scowled and realized he would have to go through almost a thousand files on other Makino Ruki's. He typed into the computer some more information.

Return to Makino Ruki..... 942 registered passengers...

Morning trains.... 411 registered passengers...

Jen scowled even more at the large database of passengers he had to search through. He laid back and thought about it even more. An idea came to him and he typed it down.

Those without parental guardians... 3 registered passengers....

"Finally..." Jen commented and opened the first file. Sure enough a picture of the Makino Ruki he was looking for came up. A picture of a neutral looking Ruki was shown and she purchased a round trip ticket, three days ago. Jen looked at the train taken and where it stopped. He soon discovered that it was Kyushu Island line. There were almost three hundred different stops up and down Japan's mainland and Ruki could have stopped anywhere.

To say none the least Jen was not looking forward to his self appointed task in the slightest. He paled at the magnitude of his search and there was always a chance that Ruki had purchased a bus ticket and wandered away from the train line after she got off. Or she could be simply dead and her dead body buried somewhere in the city. And in the background Terriermon was still screaming in terror... well almost in terror.


	6. Where We Stand

Some notes to remember here people. If you like to learn more info on Kitsune check out this website! http://www.comnet.ca/~foxtrot/kitsune/index.htm

Below is some general info on Kitsune.

Kitsune are generally highly sensual beings. They like physical sensations very much and indulge them often and no this will not become a lemon! I'm just saying they like physical sensations and actions. 

Kitsune also very mysterious and mischievous beings and are not above pulling pranks, inciting extreme emotions, etc. They are emotional, vengeful and can easily lose their tempers. Ever heard of the term "hell hath no fury than a woman's scorn?" Then to properly describe kitsune revenge is "hell hath no fury than a kitsune's temper tantrum". On the other hand they are very loyal to their friends or to those they owe a debt to. They, however, value their freedom very much as well.

Kitsune hate to ask other for help, as a result those who wish to aid a kitsune must do so of their free will. (kind of fits Ruki's personality)

Kitsune have to keep their promises, and especially follow their word of honour. They become self-destructive if they break a promise, and when someone else breaks a promise, they become deadly enemies. 

Kitsune are also victims of their own feelings. A kitsune's emotions can cause them harm, or distract them. The Sin of Regret can even kill a kitsune outright. 

__

This was never meant to be   
All the signs were there to see   
From the first moment that we met   
I knew   
This was never meant to be 

The Daikan Temple was a place of great beauty. The sun was setting in the distance and threw it's dying light against the great Hikawa forest surrounding the Okami mountain. The greenery of ancient trees contrasted greatly against the bare grey mountain backdrop. In this temple an event unlike many others and yet so mundane was happening. A clash of old secrets, old friendships and even older legacies. Small things often change the course of many fates and this meeting was one of those types of 'small things' that inextricably wrecks havoc on the established path. This was a catalyst of a new and old battle.

Ruksashas never got along with Kitsunes. This is an ancient legendary fact that persisted for many years regardless and was recorded well in myths and stories. Ever since the dawn of time these two tricksters fought for the power and affection of their mortal playthings. Strange indeed that two such beings would meet without hostility. Stranger is the situation when they both don't really realize their strengths and differences.

The situation was strange. It wasn't unheard of but it was strange beyond a doubt and strange things attract even stranger beings.

"THERE SHE IS... OUR INFORMATION WAS CORRECT," a gravely old voice pronounced. The voice gave the listener a distinct feeling of rustling leaves in autumn and a powerful presence. It also however sounded like an ancient man who spent far too much time smoking.

"SHE IS MEETING THE RUKSASHA WITHOUT VIOLENCE... VERY ODD INDEED," a younger female voice could be heard. It was soft and had a tone of mixed ire and disbelief.

"She's so cute!" A very young almost childish voice interrupted the two older voices talking. It sounded like a young girl who was on a perpetual sugar high.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" The ancient male voice bellowed.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THIS DOESN'T INVOLVE YOU," the young woman's voice replied annoyed.

"I want to watch over my cousin! She's so cute and so is the Ruksasha! You think that anyone in the court would simply stay behind due to your orders?" The young girl's voice answered without sounding intimidated at the least by her the elder's tone of voice. The petulant question that the young girl asked seemed to grate on the two elders' nerves.

"THEY'RE ALL HERE?!" The old voice asked incredulously as if it couldn't believe.

"Umm... Yeah... And can I ask you a question?" The young girl asked unconcerned by the tone of voice used.

"WHAT IS IT DAUGHTER?" The young woman's voice asked sighing in defeat.

"Why are you talking like that?" The girl asked curious.

"TALKING HOW?" The old voice replied in a forceful manner clearly annoyed by the turn events.

"TALKING LIKE THIS," the girl imitated.

".... I don't know..." The young woman answered clearly embarrassed.

And so it began.

*****

In a place far removed from one conspiracy was another brewing in the darkness.

"Everything is in order I presume?" A deep voice echoed through the darkness. Its vast emptiness highlighted the vastness of its... well... vast emptiness. The voice echoed through the blackness and seemed to ripple through space. It sounded cold, measured and cruel.

"All is ready Master... But our prey is not alone anymore. She is surrounded by many," another voice answered. This voice sounded terrified and answered quickly. It was frightened and did not want to tell his master the bad news.

The voice's owner frowned and shifted uneasily in the darkness. It's face scowled at the latest piece of bad news. Things have become complicated again, it took years of waiting for their prey to 'ascend' finally and quite frankly he was at the end of his patience. She was stronger than she ever was now and she would be his.

"It does not matter! Continue with the plan!" The deep voice demanded. It had no intention of waiting and there was no more time to waste, it had waited seven years for this opportunity and it only came once.

"But Master!" The acquiescent grovelled pitifully hoping that his master would change his mind.

"SILENCE! I DID NOT WAIT THIS LONG FOR NOTHING! THE DAUGHTER OF MAKINO KATORU WILL BE MINE!" The voice barked out loud. It echoed in the darkness and sent shivers down its servant spine.

".... As you wish Master..."

*****

Two people faced each in the Daikan Temple. They who have been on their paths for years, they who are lost and found within, they who have travelled too far too simply give up on their goals. They who didn't know that their meeting again would be nothing but a disaster. They who didn't know it was inevitable.

Abaddon frowned at Ruki. She once again called him Sen. He didn't hate his name; it just didn't sound very intimidating. He sighed and looked at Ruki intently and was somewhat amused to note that her hair was longer than anything he had seen before. The orange streaked red hair was flowing over and past her shoulders. He wondered if it was dyed in or if it was natural, he thought it natural. Normality hardly seemed to fit Ruki. Say she's a bitch and you have to ignore that she has soft spot in her soul. Say she's strong and you have to ignore that she flawed in her emotions. His brain processed information and informed him that Ruki's hair should be shorter, much shorter.

"I am not Sen anymore! It's Abaddon," Sen stated simply. He wondered what had happened to Ruki. Unless she had a miracle hair growing formula, her hair should be much shorter. Perhaps he read Ruksasha's information wrong.

He watched Ruki's reaction very carefully. She didn't react and state once again that his name was really Sen. Then again she seemed distracted and was staring at him in a way he was not quite sure he had seen from her before. Not that he did stare right back at her as well. Her hair stopped somewhere past halfway her back. Her violet eyes seemed more brilliant and the setting sun behind him made them sparkle. In fact Ruki looked... cute... not cute, beautiful. This coming from a guy who witnessed, survived and was victorious in the most brutal digimon card game thrashing ever dealt out by her. Plus generously add some cold observations, comments and downright, dare we say bitchy, disbelief that she was beaten by him. She challenged him over and over again to get over the fact he beat her. The times she beat him, she acted as if it wasn't enough. She lost to him; therefore until she can consistently beat him over and over again she wasn't truly superior. Unfortunately Abaddon kept on beating her in a consistent enough pattern of every game she won; he would win a game prior. If he had any idea that Ruki could become so obsessed with it, he would of let her win. Then again if she had discovered that he let her win, she would never forgive him.

The silence stretched out between the two. They were both unsure on how to talk to each other.

"It's been awhile since we've seen each other hasn't it?" Abaddon managed to say finally. He wondered what was so different about Ruki but he did not have time to pursue it.

"It's been three years..." Ruki intoned quietly. She resisted the urge to rush up to him, kiss him and run her hands through his blonde hair. She did not need a guy, especially a guy like Sen, here standing like an idiot while she was slowly going insane. She managed however to put an edge of old superiority in her voice and was disappointed by the lack of reaction to it by Sen or should she call him, Abaddon? Why the hell did he insist on being called Abaddon? Sen was a perfectly good and normal name. It had been three years since they first met and things hadn't changed between them it seemed. It was still awkward to talk to each other.

*****

A young looking blonde haired boy in a white shirt and black pants sitting in one of the train cars many seats bored to tears. He looked out the window and passing countryside with feigned interest. He was young and the only passenger in the car. That is until the train doors opened and let a young girl in. On the other end of the train car was a young girl, no older than eight, in blue jeans and a pale green t-shirt. It soon became apparent that the new comer was alone and in a mood that was less than pleasant. The young boy's fellow passenger marched straight over to where he was. The girl then set down her heavy backpack on the train car seat opposite to him, sat down and then crossed her arms and glared at him for all her worth.

'What's with her?' Sen thought as he watched the purple-eyed girl glare at him. Her arms were still crossed and her hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail. Her hair got his attention, whose heard of red hair with orange highlights? Definitely unique and her presence was almost... relaxing to be around but her glare was something that he did not like.

"You know glaring at people for no good reason isn't a good way to get to know others," Sen stated as he kept his gaze on the girl steadily.

"I don't want to get to know anyone else," the girl said in a hostile voice. The blonde haired boy had the perfect hair, perfect eyes and perfect everything. She disliked him and was all too readily reminded of her mother's constant dating with other men. He had the feel good aura that seemed to radiate from every pore of his being. It was nauseating and Ruki disliked it to the extreme. She was at the other end of the train and she felt the boy's sickening aura. She decided to find where the source of the feeling was coming from and try to get it to stop. It was relaxing and made her lower her guard. The very presence of the boy was making her weak due to that and weakness was not a luxury she would allow herself. She would never be weak and she would prove it to everyone and herself.

Sen said nothing and wondered why she was so hostile. He noticed a leather cardholder on her belt and saw some digimon playing cards in it. Which was unusual since the game was aimed mainly for young boys.

"You play the digimon card game?" Sen asked curiously. Much to his amazement the girl seemed to straighten her back and arrogantly beam back with pride.

"Yes and I haven't lost yet," Ruki stated. She smirked with pride that she had found something that she was good at. It was so simple and yet so complicated, the cards came into her hands, her brain figured out a strategy and then she set them down and won. It came to her naturally but being in all girl school tended to restrict her ability to find opponents. A lot of the girls thought Ruki was nuts to like Digimon and not some sugary sweet 'Magical Girl Show'. Ruki refrained from shuddering at the lack of taste, and in some case intelligence, that her fellow classmates demonstrated. "Super Pretty Soldiers" was not the height of anime achievement in Ruki's mind. They avoided her but that was all right for Ruki. She wanted to be stronger than anyone is and if that meant being alone, so be it she shall be alone. It worked better that way.

Sen felt unsure how to diffuse the obviously antagonistic girl's mood. She seemed to be on the warpath. Saying something sweet or polite would only make her believe he was weak and earn her contempt. The title of undefeated however annoyed him to the extreme however. She had to be bluffing, no one could be 'undefeated', and it was impossible. He decided that perhaps whittling down her pride was in order.

"Well... My name is Kimatori Sen and I challenge to a card game!" Sen proclaimed and took out his deck of digimon playing cards and then realized something. He paused and looked at Ruki's smirking face.

"Yes... I know that sounded corny," Sen ruefully admitted. He scowled at how idiotic his announcement and challenge sounded. There was just something about Ruki that made act a bit silly and when the hell did he start using bravado?

"I accept blockhead, let's play," Ruki answered and took out her cards from her cardholder.

"You know it's nice to know the name of the 'girl' I'm going to beat," Sen smirked while a more intelligent and diplomatic part of his brain screamed at his obvious faux pas. That was obviously going to rile her up.

"'Girl?' That's how you see me as? Well I'm going to have to give you my name then, to make you remember that Makino Ruki thrashed your ass," Ruki responded annoyed. Ruki also noted she made a rather corny, almost classical a la Pokemon type introduction.

"Does it matter? We both know who the winner is going to be," Sen continued. He wanted to beat his brains out in frustration. He wanted to make peace with the girl and then beat her at the game, not get her even more angry with him.

"Yeah, it's going to be me;" Ruki glared at Sen. She kept up her cold icy tone and began shuffling her cards.

'What an arrogant jerk!' They both thought as they dealt their cards.

The train ride was uneventful. It past idyllic fields, forests and stopped at the occasional town and railway stop. This was completely lost upon the two eight year old children playing a card game. They played for two hours straight and interspersed in the game was jabs;

"Ha! What kind of pathetic defense is that?"

"More than enough for your pathetic offense! So ha!"

Insults;

"Your mother could play better than you!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"

And bets;

"Okay if I win I get my MagnaAngemon card back!"

"Fine but if I win I get my two modify cards back from you!"

"Try and take them away from me if you can you macho chick!"

"Okay that's it I'm raising the ante! I bet my Malomyotismon card!"

"You little @#$%@"

Stranger things could have happened and if there was any other passengers that came on board during this time the two never noticed. So they played their game trying to ignore the mounting pressure and accumulating bets they were getting. None however refused to draw; it was do or die. For Ruki however, it was die.

"....." Ruki looked at her cards set out in front of her. She had played her last desperation move and the chance was fifty-fifty that it would succeed or fail. She failed.

"....." Sen looked down at his cards set out in front of him faintly impressed that he had won. It was actually dumb luck that he had the Alias card in his hand when Ruki played out her turn but he won. He slowly took a good look at the numbly surprised look on Ruki's face. Then the look on her face began subtly morph into disbelief and then anger.

"That was a cheap move!" Ruki proclaimed. Sen beat her; there was something fundamentally wrong with that. She was supposed to win! She was supposed to be strong! She was supposed to end the game in a glorious and 'unique' way but Sen just had to have the Alias card at that precise moment in his hand.

".... It worked didn't it?" Sen answered and immediately realized that it wasn't a very wise thing to say.

"I challenge you to another card game!"

"Right now?!"

"Yes right now!"

".... Have it your way Miss I've never lost to anyone before."

"Shut up and play..."

Another new card game and an hour latter.

"Ha!" Ruki proclaimed happily and smiled arrogantly at the annoyed face of Sen.

"Oh shut up!" Sen retorted.

"Let's play again!"

"Why?"

"Because crushing you into the ground is so much fun."

".... Fine have it your way!"

A few new games and six hours latter.

"... I think we're equal now. Not that I'll ever regard you as my equal..." Sen said as he looked over his cards again. He had long since given up trying to shut his run away mouth from insulting Ruki. He had regained all his cards but lost all of the cards he had won from Ruki. The day was now spent and night had fallen. The train still sped on its journey and they were both tired.

"I want to play again!" Ruki repeated stubbornly. They had both won and lost games equally but Ruki found it unbearable. She needed to be better than Sen and until she was she would never give up.

"But my stop is coming up in three minutes. I have to get off, we're almost at Hikawa forest," Sen stated tiredly. They had played enough for him stomach for an entire week. He began to check his backpack over and make sure it was all there.

"Not until I beat you again," Ruki stated stubbornly and began reshuffling her deck.

"Whatever!" Sen said and shouldered his backpack. He got out of his seat and walked down the train towards the door.

"... You're heading towards the 'path'?" Ruki asked. She sounded almost mellow and stared out the window. She felt something that was calling her. In the moonlight she saw Okami mountain's silhouette in the darkness. Sen was baffled by Ruki's question and looked at her.

"What do you know about it?" Sen asked wondering silently why it was so important for Ruki. Could she also feel it as well? The pull of the 'gate'?

"I asked first," Ruki snapped annoyed that Sen dared to ask. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

"Fine... Yes I'm heading towards the 'path' as you put it ever so nicely," Sen answered. He was frustrated with this girl. He liked being around her but her personality was driving him up the wall. It was as if she regarded him to be nothing more than obstacle in her way or a waste of her time.

"I'm getting off here as well," Ruki said brusquely as she got off her seat. She packed away her cards and shouldered her backpack. She then glared at Sen with a look that could freeze hell over. Sen rolled his eyes and headed towards the train doors. 

The train pushed ahead on the tracks and in the distance was a small poorly lit train station. It looked abandoned and poorly kept but functional. The train slowed its advance and stopped right beside the station. The door opened and let the only two passengers off. Ruki took a moment to look around the empty station while Sen got a coat out for himself. A cold wind blew but Ruki ignored it though it was biting.

"Here, it gets cold around here," Sen said and offered the coat he got out for Ruki. Ruki stared at the coat for a moment and then at him. It was icy stare seemed contemptuous of Sen's offer.

"No thanks, I'm fine without it," Ruki said coldly and started to walk away from the station. She faced towards the mountain peaking above a forest. The dirt country road was empty and weird shadows were strewn across its path.

Sen sighed at Ruki's refusal and put the coat he offered to her on him and turned up the cuff. 

'Urge to kill rising... And I'm trying to be nice..." Sen thought to himself as he got out of the station. He began to walk the dirt country path, ignoring the ominous shadows of night and headed toward Hikawa forest. Ruki noticed that Sen was walking and would overtake her lead so she walked at a pace that made sure she was in front of him all the time. Sen frowned in annoyance and broke into a light jog trying to overtake Ruki's lead. Ruki noticed and speed up the pace even more.

"Why are you following me?" Ruki asked annoyed as she ran ahead of Sen.

"If you haven't noticed I'm heading in the same direction as you are!" Sen answered trying to overtake Ruki's lead. The train ride had drained them both equally but they weren't exactly ready to admit their inferiority to each other.

They ran down the path without really noticing the scenery. The fields of rice and increasingly thicker copses of trees blurred together like an endless stream of pictures. Eventually Sen slowed down his pace and let Ruki run ahead of him at her breakneck speed. Ruki did not stop until she arrived at the cobblestone road by then her lungs were burning. She took a well-deserved break and placed her hands on her knees to support herself. The backpack she had seemed unbearably heavy and Ruki took off her load. She then looked up to look around her. An ancient forest surrounded the cobblestone road and a bright red arch denoted the first step up a very long flight of stairs. Ruki followed the snaking path of bright red arches up the mountain and blinked. There were hundreds of red arches going up until it stopped at a temple near the half waypoint of the mountain.

Sen jogged up near Ruki and stopped beside her. He was less tired than Ruki since he paced himself in his run. Another cold wind blew and cooled the sweat on Ruki making her shiver.

"You shouldn't have run so hard..." Sen observed and Ruki glared Sen. She was cold and she did not need some blockhead telling her that she shouldn't have run so hard.

"You want a coat?" Sen asked ignoring Ruki's glare and noticing Ruki's goose bumped flesh and shivering.

"No... I'm fine, I can do this by myself," Ruki answered and shouldered her backpack. She refused to admit that she had forgotten to pack a jacket for herself; it was oversight on her part. She began to walk up the stairs with Sen calmly following behind her. The long walk up the stairs seemed eternal and Ruki felt her steps falter. She didn't feel cold any more but her sweat had long ago soaked her shirt and the air was getting a bit thinner. Sen didn't seem to suffer as badly as Ruki though he was also starting to get tired. Ruki began to walk a bit slower and eventually Sen overtook her lead and she began walk behind him.

It was intolerable in Ruki's mind. She was should be in the front but her body was too tired. Blockhead was right, amazingly enough, she shouldn't have run so hard and exhaust herself. The only way to rectify this situation was to make herself stronger. Sen did not look over shoulder thankfully for Ruki. She would have hated to see someone ahead of her look at her. It was always the faces that bothered Ruki. Faces that smiled, laughed and stared at her as if they had something that she didn't. She did not want smiles, she did not want laughter and she sure as hell did not want people to stare at her as if she was strange. She wanted to be strong, strong enough to stand on her feet with no one's help. 

'Become strong Ruki and perhaps you can travel to where I have been and beyond,' Ruki thought as she reminded herself of her father's words. A father who never returned to a home of distraught and fractured family or could possibly understand the pain. A father that was either dead or had run away years ago that Ruki had become numb to his absence.

Another cold wind blew and cut through body like a knife. It was cold but Ruki refused to slow her pace even more and she forced her body to travel faster to try and catch up with Sen. Sen did not turn around or stop or slow his pace for Ruki. She was grudgingly grateful for that, whoever was the strongest deserved to be in front but that didn't mean she had to like it. She made herself run up the stairs.

Sen walked at a brisk pace. He didn't dare slow down because of a certain purple eyed girl behind him that would sooner rip off his head as a cat would eat a canary when the owner was away if he slowed down. Sen briefly wondered why it was so important for him to be here at the temple. He had been here numerous times and nothing happened. The pull of the place was strong and he couldn't leave it. It was a mystery to him, though it wasn't much a mystery knowing that his little brother was probably colouring his bedroom walls again with crayons. He did not look forward to cleaning it up and his mother would be waiting for him to return home. His ever-patient mother that never smiled yet was always caring. His thoughts were ruined when Ruki all of a sudden raced past him in a burst of speed. Sen was off guard and dumbly realized that Ruki was racing up towards the top of the stairs. He felt his legs move into a sprint up the stairs after Ruki.

Ruki felt her confidence swell in her breast once again. She was in the lead and Sen was off guard. She would reach the top and she would be the first one there. Ruki was exhausted but the now guaranteed victory against Sen energized her and spurred her on. She saw as she began to arrive at the last few stairs an ancient stone courtyard where many years ago visitors would arrive to be purified. There was five stone buildings, three small and two large ones. The largest one was the main temple where there stood ancient statues of different animals inside the opened doorway. It stood beyond the courtyard and was carved into the mountain itself. On one side of the sprawling temple area was the three small buildings interconnected to each other through a small wooden walkway exposed to the air with gardens surrounding it. The second largest building seemed to be a simple living area with all its shoji paper doors opened. In the gate of the courtyard stood an old woman with her grey hair swept back into a ponytail that went past her waist. Dressed in white robes and with a look that belied many years of hardship and experience but tempered with good humour and content. The old woman stood with her back behind the mountain and moon that shone down upon the earth. She seemed almost ethereal in the light and the years only enhanced the feeling of ancient authority and yet grandmotherly understanding.

Ruki was mildly surprised to see the old woman standing at the gate at the top of the stairs as if expecting visitors like her and Sen. Ruki was exhausted by her short run up the stairs and one of her feet failed to properly land on a step. She became off balanced and wildly swung her arms around to upright herself but failed. The old woman seemed amused by the silly sight of Ruki trying to balance herself and watched.

Ruki was not amused and felt gravity pull her backwards. Ruki managed to see the serene old woman stand where she was at the gate and wait. Ruki didn't have time to rebalance herself and Sen not expecting Ruki's abrupt stop ran into her by accident. A bit dazed but otherwise fine Sen immediately tried to push Ruki forward realizing that she was off balance and about to fall because if she fell, she would land on him and they would both fall down the stairs. For all their mutual efforts they both failed and the two came tumbling down the steep steps. Ruki landed on top of Sen who took the brunt of the pain as the tumbled down the steps eventually coming to a stop after twelve steps.

"Ahh.... That hurt..." Sen managed to say as he rubbed his back in pain. He felt thankful that his backpack managed to absorb most of the damage or else he would be in serious pain.

"#$%#" Ruki muttered as she pushed herself up to her feet. Her arm that felt as if it had been crushed and nursed it a bit trying to hid her injury.

Above them at the top of the stairs the old woman stood and looked down on the two with a slight smile on her face. Sen noticed her presence and scowled.

"You knew that was going to happen didn't you Kaho?" Sen shouted upwards to the old woman. 

Kaho simply smiled and shrugged.

"Welcome back my young Ruksasha and it seems that you have picked up an unlikely companion," Kaho said greeting the two children. Ruki simply glared balefully at Kaho with a mix of disbelief and wonder. There was something about Kaho that Ruki couldn't really understand or grasp.

"Why didn't grab me when I was off balance? You were close enough!" Ruki asked annoyed and in pain. She was on her feet and slowly climbed the stairs.

"My young kitsune! It simply doesn't work that way here. Stay as long as possible, seek what you want and become what you 'need' to be," Kaho said mysteriously and turned away from the two. She walked away and back into the temple chuckling.

"What kind of bull$%@^ is that?" Ruki asked Sen. She turned her head around to face him but could only see him shrug.

"... She's just Kaho... That's all I can say," Sen answered.

*****

Sen and Ruki stood facing each other unsure. Sen remembered now why he was here and opened his mouth to say what was needed and then planned to leave immediately but Ruki beat him to the punch. Ruki's self control was disrupted and found her body pull forward towards Sen. One of her arms wrapped itself around Sen's waist bringing him closer to her body in contact with his, her other arm went around his head and pressed his head closer to her. Lips met lips and Sen's eyes widened with panic. Ruki's mind was fuzzy and then became clear when she exerted more of her will to control herself and realized what she was doing. 

'Oh @#$*,' Ruki and Sen thought at the same time. Ruki could feel her hand in Sen's clothing and hair, she realized how soft it felt but managed to keep her fingers from stroking and feeling his body. The warmth from his lips surprised her and she could smell a faint scent of rosemary. Sen on the other hand was completely shocked and his mind in chaos. He could feel nothing and decided to check his brain for some much-needed information.

Electrons sent information to his brain for answers and soon received some as more electrons race through his brain's pathway. Ruki is not the type to randomly kiss someone for no good reason. Reason concurs, as does memory that confirms it. Pleasure and desire however says screw it and enjoys the ride while survival instinct says runaway before Ruki realizes what she is doing and harms him. Reason and memory agree that running away is the best and safest route of action. Once again Ruki had the initiative and stopped kissing him and stared at him in shock. Her arms were still around him and her purple amethyst eyes bore right into him.

Pleasure is disappointed but desire is still there. Survival instinct orders brain to get legs moving. Survival fails and legs are rooted to the spot. Ruki's eyes narrowed with unrestrained anger and promised violence. Ruki let go of Sen and backed off a bit still glaring at him.

'Oh boy...' Sen thought as he watched Ruki pull her fist back. Everything was in slow motion and he debated whether dodging her punch or taking it was a good idea. He decided to take it but it was going to hurt.

SMACK!

Ruki pulled her fist back quickly after punching Sen in the face angered. She lost control over herself when Sen appeared out of nowhere. It was embarrassing and the bastard looked as though he enjoyed the damn thing. If Sen wasn't there then it wouldn't have happened. A more rational part of her mind asked how her line of reasoning could apply to this situation. After all it wasn't Sen's fault that he arrived a bad time but Ruki blithely ignored it. She was angry, embarrassed and annoyed at her uncooperative brain and at her inability to put her urges under control. Loss of control was weakness and she was not weak.

Sen fell to the ground from the force of Ruki's punch and inanely realized that she had somehow become impossibly strong within a short period of time. The punch was like a sledgehammer and came so quickly Sen wondered whether he could actually dodged in time even with the perception diffraction he had. It hardly mattered because Sen began to realize that Ruki was no longer quite human any more. He briefly wondered if she was ascending after so many years of trying. Sen lay on the ground dazed slightly and simply stayed on the ground.

"... You know you're officially the first girl whose ever kissed me in my entire life..." Sen said after thinking about it. Though how it all happened was not quite as how he expected and Ruki was on the absolute bottom of his list of girls that might kiss him other than his mother (not in the way some people would imply).

"And I would care because?" Ruki said as she cringed with embarrassment by Sen's reminder of what she did.

"It's times like these I wish I had one of those cameras," Kaho said as she walked towards the two. She had a tray of food and a bag of ice.

"You saw everything?" Ruki choked.

"Quite... I have to admit I never thought Sen would let you punch him," Kaho said after much thought. She looked up into the sky with a look of consideration.

".... If I tried to have dodged then Ruki would have started a fight with me... and I'd win," Sen said and then realized that what he said was not a good thing to say out loud.

Ruki simply twitched at Sen's commentary.

'Why do I feel like I'm in one of those cliche filled anime shows?' Sen thought to himself and wondered why it felt like he was being watched by something.

*****

Akiyama Ryou and Monodramon walked down relatively quiet Shinjuku street in Tokyo. The day had not been good for them both, not only did Ryou have to get off the train that Monodramon had fought, he had to buy a new ticket wasting more of his money. He wondered what people would think if they saw the completely destroyed train seat and the dented door and broken glass. One thing was for sure; Ryou could not possibly afford to pay for the damage so running away from the scene of the crime was the only way to avoid it. Ryou and Monodramon hated running away and they both mutually vowed to get back at Ruksasha. Preferably by beating him up and then stuffing the cigar he smoked down his throat. In any case despite their difficulties which included an overly curious five year old boy who tried to steal Monodramon thinking it was a toy and a overly macho sixty year old who berated Ryou for having a 'stuffed toy' among other things. They had finally arrived in Tokyo city and with even more difficulty managed to find where Ruki lived. The overt attempts from the man, who allowed Ryou to use a computer but had to give an autograph and meet his daughter, Ryou could do without.

"The price of fame sucks doesn't Ryou?" Monodramon commented as he nursed his tail from the enthusiastic pulling from a little girl who wondered why the 'doll' of the Legendary Tamer could move.

"Tell me about it... the train we got on had so many people that recognized me I thought it was the unofficial 'Stalk Akiyama Ryou Club' meeting in there," Ryou sighed as he looked once more at his paper that had Ruki's address on it.

"Just feel glad that it wasn't that guy who was hitting on you and not his daughter," Monodramon commented.

"Don't remind me please... At least we know where Ruki lives. Thank whatever is up there that she has such a famous mother." Ryou shuddered at the reminder and the girl that supposedly the daughter of the computer man.

They walked down the street and eventually came to a walled off house with a old fashioned gate as an entrance. It was quiet and both were quite impressed by the size of the house. It was large especially in a city like Tokyo and had an air of ancient yet inviting presence. There was a rather large and impressive garden from what Ryou could tell as he peeked through the opened gate and the house itself was massive. 

"Wooza! What a house... I wonder if there's any chicks in the house," Monodramon commented. 

"Well her mother is a model and..." Ryou never had an opportunity to finish his sentence.

"Great! When do we smack the ^*#$% up and fight?" Monodramon asked.

"What are you talking about? Ruki, Renamon and her grandmother lives here as well," Ryou felt like laughing. It was definitely not the way he wanted to get things done, first he had find the other Tamers and talk to them.

"Oh... More than one female... Okay... I'll correct my question... When do we smack the ^*#$%es up?"

Ryou sighed a bit though it was rather amusing how Monodramon worded his question and entered the gate into the front area of the house.

"What?! There's more than one ^*#$% in the house!" Monodramon followed Ryou in through the gates. All of sudden Renamon simply fazed into existence without much fanfare in front of the two.

"I resent being called that," Renamon said as she stood at the door of the house. Her face was neutral and before Monodramon could say anything inappropriate Ryou said something.

"We're looking for the others Renamon. We had a rather 'interesting' dream and wondered what's the problem," Ryou said. He gave a 'don't say anything look' to Monodramon who pouted.

"Ruki's gone missing and no one knows where she went."

"... That's a rather big problem."

*****

Hirokazu and Kenta stood in front of Jen's apartment door. They had searched the city for the umpteenth time hoping to find some sort lead where Ruki maybe. The police was searching within the city but nothing turned up. Tired, thirst and feet sore the two arrived at Jen hoping that he found something. Marine Angemon slept in Kenta's pocket, snoring which sounded like it's speech.

"...Pipipi...pipi... Pipipi... pipi..."

"That things driving me up the wall... Get it to stop snoring Kenta," Hirokazu whined as he was subjected to listen to the sound for more than an hour.

"He's tired so leave him alone all ready," Kenta answered.

Hirokazu was about say something sarcastic but the door opened and revealed Shiuchon decked in what looked like a nurse uniform. The two boys blinked and behind her they could see Terriermon bandaged up and what looked a bar of soap in his mouth.

"Hello... I was just cleaning Terriermon's potty mouth, you want to help?" Shiuchon asked cutely. Lopmon behind her looked rather triumphant and had a rather satisfied if somewhat sadistic look on his face. The two boys blinked and looked at each other deliberately. They knew what to say and do in situations like this.

"Ah we want to..." Hirokazu began slowly smiling. He watched Terriermon squirm with discomfort.

"But we have to see Jen for a sec, so maybe we can help you afterwards," Kenta finished. Terriermon had an unmistakable look of horror on his face and tried to struggle out of his bandages.

"You won't take me alive!" Terriermon said as he spat out the bar of soap from his mouth and get up to ran away. Shiuchon seeing that her 'patient' was leaving ran after him.

"Terriermon come back! We haven't even started the operation!" Shiuchon proclaimed as she ran after Terriermon. Lopmon rolled his eyes and chased after his young Tamer to torture Terriermon. Lopmon owed him a debt of pain and pink lace. Hirokazu and Kenta entered calmly and decided not to mention what Shiuchon was doing to Terriermon, lest Jen would try to rescue him.

"Well that was entertaining," Hirokazu stated as he entered the Li's apartment. They immediately headed over to Jen's room and opened his door. Jen was busy looking over a map of Japan that had a superimposed image of train stops all over the main island on the computer.

"Who is it?" Jen said as he typed more information into his computer.

"It's us, don't sweat okay?" Hirokazu said.

"I wish it was only that easy," Jen muttered to himself tired.

"Is anything wrong?" Kenta asked. Marine Angemon began to stir a bit from his nap.

"Well other than the fact that Ruki got on a train that runs the entire length of Kyushu and has over three hundred stops," Jen answered.

The cellular phone rang and Jen answered it. Jen didn't want to admit it but he was rather annoyed and didn't want people over because he had hit a dead end.

"This is Jen speaking... Takato?"

"Hey Jen, ow, I needed to talk to you," Takato said as he winced in pain. The ice did not relieve pain he was getting from his bruises.

"What's wrong with you? You sound like your in pain," Jen said. Hirokazu and Kenta came closer and tried to listen into the conversation. Jen felt rather nervous and claustrophobic, he hated when people crowded him like that.

"What's Takato saying?" Hirokazu asked.

"Yeah spill the beans," Kenta said.

"Just a sec you guys!" Jen said. He hated being crowded in like this.

"Is someone there? Jen?" Takato asked.

"Just Hirokazu and Kenta, so tell me what you wanted to say," Jen said. He tried to move away from the two.

"Hey! We have a right to hear!" Hirokazu stated and moved in closer.

"Anyway Jen I think I know why Ruki went away!" Takato exclaimed.

"What? Takato knows where Ruki went away to?" Kenta asked not quite hearing what Takato said clearly.

"Keep going," Jen said. He got up from his seat and walked away from the two rather impatient boys.

"Well you know how she's always the loner and tough attitude she has. I think she wanted a sort time out and get away from it all," Takato theorized. Jen thought for a moment and had concur with Takato. It sounded like Ruki to do something like that but it didn't change the initial problem they had. No one knew where Ruki went except for Abaddon.

"That's a good theory but the only problem is it still doesn't tell us where she might of gone to," Jen explained. He thought about it, he was surprised he didn't really think why Ruki might have left. He was too busy trying to find out where she went rather than why.

"I know but I thought... well it might be helpful because if we go and get her she might not like it," Takato explained.

"Yeah... Thanks for the theory, I'll see you latter," Jen said.

"Yeah see ya," Takato turned off his phone and sat down in a seat hard. What was Ruki looking for? He fingered the business card that Abaddon gave him and wondered whether or not to use it.

Jen heard the dial tone and turned off his cellular phone. Hirokazu and Kenta was still rather close by.

"What did Takato say? Did he decide to get Abaddon's help? Come on tell us!" Hirokazu demanded.

Jen simply looked at Hirokazu. Getting information from Abaddon seemed like the only way to find Ruki but Takato had the card to call Abaddon. In either case the price to pay for such information could be more than they could truly afford.


	7. Go forward

Janyuu is the name of Jen's father.  
Mie Matsuda is the name of Takato's mother.  
Takehiro Matsuda is the name of Takato's father.

Also Sen "Abaddon" Kimatori is the full complete name of the blond haired, green and blue eyed guy that I made up. Details on him will be forth coming latter on in the story.

Ruksashas: Shape changing tricksters that are much like the Kitsune with a notable difference. In almost every legend that they are featured in they are evil, manipulative and powerful creatures. They have a rivalry with foxes which is well recorded in Japanese, Indian and Chinese legend.

Their rivalry stems from the fact that they are very similar to each other. Thus they compete for the same resources, mortals, etc. Ruksashas have a rather nasty tendency of killing their mortal playthings or prey rather than simply draining them of their energy or life force like the kitsune but despite this they are physically more powerful and arguably more 'free' to pursue different avenues. They have no notable codes of honour, no progenitor that enforces order and organization and they have better shape changing ability but lack the kitsune's extensive powers in illusions.

In their natural form they look like six-foot tall grand looking tigers that stand like a human and have fully articulated hands but can change themselves to look like something else. They have a fondness for the trappings of wealth, power and finer things of life. Which is why Ruksasha in my story goes around in a suit and such. There is no website on the Internet that are specifically devoted to them.

The lyrics of the song do not belong to me.

Elevation  
Artist: U2

__

I can't stand this indecision   
Married with a lack of vision   
Everybody wants to rule the world   
Say that you'll never never never never need it   
One headline why believe it? 

****

Everybody Wants To Rule The World  
Artist: Tears for Fears 

'They would all pay for this, every single one of them shall suffer through the torture I've been through,' an embittered voice echoed through the mind's eyes of a tormented digimon. Oh yes he had great plans for revenge from which they would all be begging for mercy in the end. They would all suffer under the cruel and unusual, no don't make him even say it, "Princess Pretty Pants" treatment. The words were like nails raking down a blackboard and set his nerves on edge. Nothing in the world was as terrifying as a little sister hell bent on dressing you up in a pink frilly dress.

Terriermon had managed to hide in Jen's parents' bedroom away from Shiuchon's grasp. He willed himself to remain perfectly still on top of the closet and continued his rant in his head. To say none the least Terriermon was slightly unhinged by his traumatic experience with Nurse Shiuchon's treatment. Oh not to worry he's always gone a bit off the deep end when the aftermath of the torture ended, it was usually just a matter of time before Terriermon would forget everything about the event that forced him in the closet and come out. Usually.

'I'll make every single one of them wear pink frilly dresses, especially Lopmon, and then I will torture Jen by manacling him to a wall and...' Terriermon stopped his ranting and froze. The door to Jen's parents' bedroom was being opened and the muffled sound of footsteps could be heard.

Janyuu walked into his bedroom tired. Outside in the hallway Shiuchon and Lopmon walked around the apartment looking for the ever-elusive Terriermon to 'treat' him of his 'potty mouth' syndrome. Janyuu looked at his youngest daughter's frantic movements as she searched the living room with her partner.

"Terriermon!" Shiuchon called out. Terriermon heard the call and shuddered, not sure whether the person that had entered the bedroom was Shiuchon or not. Janyuu headed towards the closet to put away his jacket completely oblivious that Terriermon was preparing to bolt out of the closet as soon as it opened.

'Another strange day.... Things never get dull around here,' Janyuu thought to himself as he opened the closet door. Faster the proverbial locomotive Terriermon charged out of the closet knocking Janyuu on his back. Terriermon soon realized his mistake but not after Shiuchon realized where he was hiding.

"Terriermon come back here!" Shiuchon said as she chased after Terriermon.

"Sorry I thought you were someone else!" Terriermon shouted out his apology to the stunned Janyuu who got up.

"Yes... things never get dull around here," Janyuu commented as he got up.

Terriermon down the hall like a maniac avoiding the eager Shiuchon and revenge bent Lopmon. He charged into Jen's room and landed on the head of a surprised Jen who was cornered by Kenta and Hirokazu. 

"JEN! SAVE ME!" Terriermon screamed. He balanced himself on Jen's head and remained there shuddering. The bandages that hung loosely on Terriermon's body blinded Jen and to further compound matters Shiuchon came into the room and grasped the loose bandages. This cause Terriermon to grip onto Jen's head even tighter and with one mighty pull Shiuchon pulled downwards on the bandage. Jen couldn't see a thing, tripped over his feet and crashed into Hirokazu who then crashed into Kenta. The entire result was that Terriermon, Kenta, Hirokazu and Jen culminated into a pile of arms and legs.

Marine Angemon awoke before Kenta hit the ground and flew out of Kenta's oversized custom pocket.

"Penpa!" Marine Angemon chirped. Marine Angemon hovered over the pile of struggling boys, unsure what to do.

"Shiuchon!" Jen shouted as he struggled to get Hirokazu's hand away from his face. He hated being crowded in like this and wondered whether he had claustrophobia of some sort. Then again no one likes having three different bodies crushing or squeezing yours under a pile. Shiuchon could only watch heedlessly trying to contain her laughter at the sight of her older brother and that of his friends tangled up. Lopmon looked on with some amusement as well while Marine Angemon looked confused.

"What's going on here?" Janyuu said as he approached the room and saw pile up boys.

"Geddoffa me!" Hirokazu mumbled as he tried to get Kenta's foot away from his mouth.

Jen's cellular phone began to ring. Jen managed to reach it and to turn it on while Kenta and Hirokazu go up. Lying on the ground Jen answered the phone.

"Ouch... Lee residence, Jen speaking," Jen managed to groan out as he got off the ground with Terriermon still on his head.

"I'll have my revenge! This I swear! I will make sure each and every one of you will suffer the wrath of Terriermon and horrors of the "Princess Pretty Pants" Treatment! I'll make sure its..." Terriermon kept on ranting out loud, he didn't sound very sane. This mildly disturbed Kenta, Hirokazu and Marine Angemon but the Li family simply ignored Terriermon's claims.

"Ummm... Does Terriermon always do that?" Kenta asked Shiuchon who was busy watching Jen talk on the phone.

"Huh... well after I play with him, he goes off and says funny things," Shiuchon answered.

"Terriermon can be quiet a bit! The other side can hear you!" Jen said and used his free hand to try and cover Terriermon's mouth.

"You're against me! You're all against me! Because I am justice! I am the light of my big ass gatling gun I get when I'm Gargomon! I shall defeat all when Jen sees my side of it! Then I shall proceed to take every single female on this planet except that harpy Shiuchon as my concubine and..." Terriermon continued in almost deranged evil anime overlord type voice.

"What's a concubine?" Shiuchon asked innocently to her father. Janyuu frowned and reached over to Terriermon. 

"Something you never need to know," Janyuu answered as he grabbed Terriermon and tried to pull him off Jen's head.

"Ouch! Let go Terriermon! I'm talking to someone!" Jen said. Terriermon increased his grip on Jen's head refusing to let. Jen almost dropped his cellular phone but managed to keep it in his hand.

"NO! NEVER! THIS IS MY CITADEL OF SAFETY! THIS IS MY HUMBLE ABODE WHERE I SHALL PLAN TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" Terriermon shouted approaching the zenith of ranting.

"I think we need you to calm down," Janyuu gritted his teeth as he removed Terriermon from Jen's head.

"AH!!!! I SHALT SLAYETH THEE EVIL FATHER OF THIS MONSTROUS BROOD! FOR I AM STRONGER THAN SIEGFRIED! THY EVIL GRASP IS NAY A PLACE OF VIRGIN GOOD!" Terriermon continued.

"Okay, who's been letting him read Hamlet again?" Janyuu asked in annoyance. He wrapped his hand around Terriermon's mouth to silence him. Terriermon continued ranting though it now muffled. Kenta, Hirokazu and Marine Angemon couldn't help but do anime sweats drop. It was just too strange.

"Finally," Jen muttered and turned his attention to the phone.

"What's going on over there?" Ryou asked into the phone's receiver. He managed to catch something about taking over the world, concubines, Siegfried and something that sounded straight out of a Shakespearean play.

"Ryou? Is that you?" Jen asked. Ryou had called him; this was good for the entire group.

"Yeah it's me! I'm here to help find Ruki with you guys;" Ryou answered though he was wondering what was going on, on the other side of the phone.

Everyone immediately crowded Jen in the moment Ryou's name was mentioned out loud.

"Wow! You mean its Ryou? Can we talk to him?" Kenta asked.

Shiuchon blushed at the mention of Ryou's name and began to look down at the floor idly making a circle with her toe. Hirokazu noticed the uncharacteristic reaction of Shiuchon and so did Jen who frowned. Lopmon looked somewhat surprised at his Tamer's reaction.

"Looks like we can add your little sister to the Ryou Akiyama fan club Jen," Hirokazu said in a slightly playful voice. Janyuu looked like the over protective father act down to a tee and had a slightly dark look on his face.

"She's not dating anyone until she turns eighteen," Janyuu muttered. Shiuchon looked up at her father in annoyance.

Jen tried to ignore the conversation going on in his room. It was rather overcrowded with five humans and three digimon. His room wasn't meant for any more than three people and so Jen felt rather claustrophobic.

'I definitely have a problem with enclose spaces... funny... Why didn't it affect me so badly in the Digital world or anywhere else? Why now?' Jen thought to himself.

"That's great! Where are you?" Jen asked into the phone receiver.

"That's not fair!" Shiuchon said.

"No arguing about it young lady," Janyuu answered in a tone that brooked no argument. Shiuchon could only pout.

"I'm at Ruki's house. Renamon explained everything to me," Ryou answered.

"Then why do you let Jen like Ruki?" Shiuchon asked. Jen choked at Shiuchon casual announcement.

'Thanks a lot Shiuchon! In front of Hirokazu, Kenta and dad no less," Jen thought embarrassed.

"I'll meet you there!" Jen shouted into the phone and hung up. He tried to make a quick exit out of his room but due to the number people in his room he failed to get out quickly enough. Luckily no one was moving around the room.

"Jen likes Ruki?!" Hirokazu asked in shock. He stared at Jen who was trying desperately not to blush. Kenta looked no less than shocked that Hirokazu. 

"It's not what you think!" Jen managed to get out of his room. Janyuu looked surprised at the news as well. Terriermon smirked with triumph though he was still being gagged by Janyuu's hand. Squirming out of Janyuu's grasp, Terriermon chased after Jen who was all ready at the door with his shoes on.

"Hey just a second Jen! I was just going to explain to them how you like leather... in various applications!" Terriermon announced in a deranged triumphant voice. Jen opened the door to get out but stopped with eyes wide open at the implications of Terriermon's tall tale. Deciding not to risk Terriermon's frayed nerves and vows of revenge; Jen grabbed Terriermon and then ran out the door.

"I'll be back before dinner dad!" Jen shouted as he ran out the door and towards the stairs down. He planned to head towards the Makino estate immediately to meet Ryou.

*****

Ryou managed to hear Shiuchon's announcement over the phone and blinked.

'Jen likes Ruki?' Ryou thought to himself as his brain filed away the piece of information. Something inside of Ryou bristled with annoyance. It was like a spark as it tried to light something. Ryou wrestled with his uncertainty and rising temperature but remained relatively calm. He could hear the dial tone and slowly put the phone on the receiver.

"So what's Jen going to do?" Renamon asked as she leaned against a wall. She watched Ryou carefully and noticed something wrong with the boy. It looked like he was trying not to look upset about something but it was so faint that Renamon was unsure.

"He said he's coming over," Ryou said smoothly. He headed towards the garden where Monodramon was busy lazing in the sun and staring at the clouds. Renamon followed after Ryou and looked at the sky herself.

White clouds floated idly in the sky like larks congregating closer together. They were fluffy white and sunset was approaching thus tingeing the clouds with a steadily deepening red color. It was rather beautiful and Renamon remembered that Ruki loved these types of days. There was nothing more enjoyable in Renamon's mind than spending a quiet sunset together and looking at the sun as it dipped downwards to let darkness cover the scope of the city.

'Great white clouds gathering  
Azure skies of endless heaven  
The lost one murmurs' 

Renamon composed a simply haiku in her head. She then realized she had too many syllables in the haiku but mentally shrugged. It seemed appropriate for the moment and she looked down to see Ryou standing over the garden's pond to look at the koi pond fish. Monodramon disrupted the silence.

"I'm bored..." Monodramon said as he lay on his back.

"Weird... you weren't complaining for the last hour," Ryou said suspiciously. Renamon couldn't help but smirk in a bit to herself.

"Renamon told me to stare at the sky and pick out shapes in the clouds to entertain myself... It gets kind of boring after awhile... Though I was surprised when I found a cloud that was shaped like a game boy," Monodramon idly announced. Ryou sighed at the mention of the annoying piece of electronic gaming equipment again though he gave Renamon a thankful look. Renamon easily read it and nodded. Ryou noticed a part of the wall in the garden that was damaged; he looked at it and saw that some force damaged some of the stones crowning mortar. He wondered what could have done the damage.

Hata Seiko entered the hallway and saw the three idly individuals in deep thought. She was unsure whether to interrupt the two but luckily it wasn't necessary for the old woman to interrupt their thoughts. Rumiko, Ruki's mother, interrupted the silence for everyone as she charged past the ancient gates of the Makino household.

"I'm home!" Rumiko shouted as she ran into the house, down the hallway and dropped off some bags in Ruki's room. She then ran down the hallway again towards the gates.

"Bye! Don't expect me home for dinner! I'm going to look for Ruki!" Rumiko shouted as she ran out the gate and into the neighbourhood. Seiko looked shocked at her daughter's uncharacteristic show of complete utter disregard towards the fact there was guests in the house.

"Ah... well... Will you be staying for dinner Mr. Akiyama? It looks like there won't be too many people here," Seiko asked politely. Ryou stared at where Rumiko had just charged out from and blinked.

"Uh... Sure, just make sure there's enough for Monodramon or he'll eat the table as well," Ryou said politely.

"I'll get dinner ready then;" Seiko said and walked to the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?" Ryou asked.

"No. You just relax there, you'll need your mind on finding that granddaughter of mine," Seiko answered. She disappeared into the kitchen to start to dinner.

"Is... Ruki's mom always like that?" Ryou asked Renamon. He had never seen such frantic and maniacal energy since he faced a Sukamon on a sugar high.

"She's usually at a photo shoot at this time of day... but since Ruki's disappeared she's cut her modeling hours drastically and spent the time wandering around the city looking for Ruki... I won't be joining you for dinner, I'm going after Ruki's mother and make sure nothing happens," Renamon answered and got up. With barely any effort she fazed out of existence and Ryou widened his eyes in surprise.

"No matter how many times she does that I'll never get used to it," Ryou muttered. Monodramon got and began to stretch out his legs. Ryou found that he was thinking too hard about the mysterious coincidence between the dream and Ruki's disappearance. The normally cool look that Ruki usually gave in life was replaced with something akin to panic in the dream. What could of possible spook the Digimon Queen to that point? Wide purple eyes that could usually freeze the earth ten times over were terrified by something it saw. Perhaps what Ruki saw shook the very beliefs that Ruki held close? Resourcefulness? That wasn't it. Power? That wasn't it either. Whatever it was, Ruki was not willing to part with it. It had grown to the point that Ruki now regarded that part of her as a limb. A limb she was less than willing to cut off.

Ryou frowned and lay on his back. The smell of a traditional Japanese dinner wafted in the air causing Monodramon to growl impatiently for the food to be finished cooking. Ryou ignored it, in fact he was completely unaware of the smell or Monodramon's grumbling.

'Cold purple eyes that hide from the world. A smile to melt the hardest of hearts and is rarer than a diamond. A drive to go forth without prompting. Beautiful... Hey name a girl who'll jump off a height of nearly a thousand feet and almost land right into a blob that can delete a digital God but managed to survive by digivolving to the mega level in time?' Ryou idly listed off in his head. There was definitely something appealing about Ruki that he couldn't really put down. A fascination with her complete unpredictability and something else that almost tangible about her character. It felt good to be around her and at that Ryou let out a short laugh.

'Perhaps I should start asking Ruki's mother for her daughter's hand in marriage if I keep thinking like this,' Ryou thought. Ryou smiled and wondered how many broken bones he would get if Ruki ever found out?

"What's so funny Ryou?" Monodramon asked. He curious at the silence that Ryou showed and wanted to know what his Tamer was thinking.

"Tell me Monodramon... What do you think of Renamon?" Ryou asked.

"Renamon? ... Well she's one 'foxy' mon, if you pardon the pun," Monodramon said in a drole voice.

"Hmm... Perhaps it's just a crush then..." Ryou said to himself quietly, however Monodramon overheard despite the softness of Ryou's voice. Ryou completely forgot about Monodramon's sensitive hearing and Monodramon pounced on the gaff to pursue the subject.

"So you have a crush eh? Who is it?" Monodramon asked in a sly voice. Ryou didn't look surprised and got up from his position.

"None of your business."

"Hey I told you what I think of Renamon."

"Something about crushes got brought up in the conversation I had with Jen." It was a half-truth but it wasn't an outright lie.

"Really? So who does Jen like?"

"Well until Jen says out right himself, it seems that everyone at his place thinks he has a crush on Ruki." Ryou struggled to put into words how he felt about the entire thing. Jen was a guy, he had his right to have crushes but for some reason it bothered Ryou. He felt mildly possessive of Ruki and he was quite sure that if Ruki ever found out about that, she would have no qualms sending him to the hospital.

"Him... and Ruki?" Monodramon scowled at that. Ryou wondered what could have possibly upset his partner.

"What's with you?"

"I don't think violence and peace mix well together. I much prefer it if it was just you and Ruki..."

Ryou laughed at Monodramon's answer. Even Monodramon agreed that he would go well with Ruki.

"That way I have a chance to score with Renamon! WHOOHOO!" Monodramon finished. He pumped his short arms into the air energetically. The sight of Monodramon making a 'macho' yet completely silly sight was rather entertaining if it wasn't anyone else watching but Ryou.

Ryou stopped laughing and sighed. 

'I knew there was a catch... I wonder how Ruki's doing?' Ryou thought to himself. Ryou idly looked over the business card that Ruksasha gave him.

*****

To properly answer Ryou's question, the answer would be not well. You see Ruki was currently venting her rage in a slightly unbalanced way due to her awakened kitsune nature. There was hell on earth currently at Daikan temple and Sen wanted to nowhere near her but he was forced to stay on. He wanted to tell her something vital but it was impossible to reach out to her.

"Ruki... Now calm down, this is just a regular part of the entire ordeal okay? You should get used to it," Sen said as he tried to calm Ruki down. Kaho threw the bag of ice in her hand to Sen. Sen took the ice while it was still in the air got up and applied to his swelling check.

"GET USED TO IT?" Ruki shouted in anger. She had an urge to go to the nearest stream and swim in it.

"Look it's just your mortal body and mind trying to make out what your more... er... divine side of your soul is trying achieve or want," Sen continued. The look of rage on Ruki's face was amazing. She was rolling in the aura of extreme agitation and anger that Sen wanted to run away from. She was not able to control her kitsune fascination powers and it was badly effecting him and Kaho.

"Calm down Ruki. You are much stronger than this. Hold it back," Kaho managed to say with clear concrete authority and set down the tray of food for Ruki. Ruki was a maelstrom of uncontrolled emotions that seemed suspiciously repressed. Just how long did Ruki let her emotions simmer? In any case Kaho felt very uncomfortable, the air itself seemed charged with pulsing energy and emotions.

Ruki did not want to calm down. She did not want to hold back. Even if she had the ability to she doubted highly that she could drive her rage, her want, her everything back down into the depths of apathy within her forever. No, she needed to let them out and exposed. Two parts of her mind raged in a battle for control. Ruki wanted to hurt herself, she wanted to berate herself for all the tears shed in her sickening weakness, all the empty feelings of regret she had, she wanted to kill the all to hot emotions and passion in her veins right at this moment. Another part wanted her to laugh; to love and cherish all that had happened, to embrace what had become and what will become. Isn't this what she had always longed for? To fulfill the emptiness, the unfulfilled part of her soul?

The sky was reddening with expecting sun set and Ruki felt more and more frantic. She felt pain expand from her right shoulder where she had been bitten. It was so encompassing that Ruki could barely stand it. Sen carefully approached Ruki in a deliberately slow manner. 

"Ruki... Listen to me... The only person that can drag you out of this is you only. And that's only if you want to make yourself stronger in the end. This is what you always wanted isn't it? Don't worry I've been through it as well. You just need to listen," Sen asked calmly. He began to sweat, Ruki's aura was overpowering and the look on her face was not very comforting. He applied judicious amounts of his own calming powers to give Ruki a chance to gather her mind.

"I don't need to listen and I don't need anyone else," Ruki concluded coldly. Ruki sallied forth her will and drove the feelings under a weak control. Ruki chose a middle path and avoided deciding. The pain in her right shoulder began to fade and Ruki sat down to rest a moment.

"I hate to use trite sayings but 'no one is an island' Ruki," Sen said hoping that his words would reach her.

"I know that 'no one is an island' Sen... But my island is an inhospitable fortress that keeps everything out and away," Ruki charged back. She glared at Sen who remained relatively calm. Sen face was completely unemotional.

".... You're not an inhospitable fortress that keeps everything out Ruki. You're more like a prison that won't let anything out and let's everything in," Sen calmly stated. Kaho had set the tray of food down for Ruki and stood between the two quarrelling children. Kaho felt uncomfortable and looked between the two hardened faces. How strange the two looked, they looked nothing like the young children they should be and in the air was the charge of many confusing auras. In fact more than the two auras that Ruki and Sen were exhibiting and it was far more powerful than Kaho expected.

"Eat Ruki, you need your strength... A bath will be drawn for you... As for you Sen I think it is best that you get out of here," Kaho pointed out. The auras were coming closer to the temple.

"I am not Sen any more it's Abaddon!" Sen stated annoyed at Kaho and then he stopped. He felt in the distance eight auras of differing strengths. Sen looked behind him in the general direction of the auras and realized his time was up and could stay no longer near Ruki. Kaho narrowed her eyes in the direction of the auras and wondered what they were.

Ruki ignored Sen and Kaho at that moment and sat down to eat her dinner. She didn't care what Sen said and that was a fact. Nothing would change about her and she would forge on ahead by herself as she had always done.

"Ruki... You're in danger, I want to warn you that the enemies of your father and are now yours as well. Please tell me you're listening at the very least!" Sen said. He was annoyed at her stubbornness and felt his exasperation reach new heights. Ruki's ascension, the uncooperativeness of the Tamers and now eight unknown spirits were approaching added problems to his plan and deal he made with his client. Things were not going according to plan, in fact his plan was now shot to pieces, and now there was the entire issue of her newfound powers. She was going to attract a lot of unnecessary attention and worse of all he suspected that his client knew this was going to happen and gave him a deceptive contract to carry out. No matter, the contract would be fulfilled and he would be paid.

"I'm listening but I don't care," Ruki said tersely.

"I will see you latter then," Sen said angrily and faded out of existence much to Ruki's surprise. She spat out the soup in her mouth and choked at what Sen did. The ice simply dropped to the ground, as there was nothing to hold it up any more.

"How did he do that?" Ruki asked as she coughed. Kaho didn't seem to be paying attention and stared out into the darkening forest. It was then that Ruki felt something that set her body on edge, something was coming and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. It was a distinct feeling of content and happiness that she only felt when she hung around Ryou and Sen, the sickeningly warm and fuzzy feeling that she hated because it made her weak and she couldn't tolerate it. Sen was bearable because he diluted his aura but Ryou had no such ability and it annoyed her to no end. Ruki stopped eating and tried to see what was out in the forest that was causing to her feel this way. Her urges rushed forward demanding that she investigate the thing and for once Ruki completely agreed. She got up from her seat and left her food alone. Her urges clouded over the strangeness of Sen's disappearance as if it was normal happenstance and people disappeared into thin air all the time, take for example Renamon. Ruki was more than used to her partner disappearing off somewhere and into thin air.

"I'm going to see what's out there," Ruki stated and Kaho looked rather forbidding.

"I won't allow you to," Kaho said. Ruki did a double take and stared at Kaho as if she had truly gone insane. Kaho had never in the time that Ruki known her, ever forbid Ruki from doing anything. Kaho never forbade anything and only smiled in an off way that tells you that she doesn't like it. It was never a verbal command but always a subtle physical warning of danger.

"What?" 

"I said I wouldn't allow you to... Sen is right, you are in danger. I think it would be best if you go home Ruki," Kaho stated. Ruki stared at Kaho with wide eyes and then unleashed a controlled but unpredictable wrath on Kaho. The anger of her words came mostly from her state of mind and sheer fickleness of her urges. They seemed to encourage extremeness and such for the hell of it.

"Is that so? Well then I will have to leave this temple and never come back. Is that what you want?" Ruki said in a sarcastic and cold voice. Kaho sighed and looked at Ruki in a calm even look. It reminded Ruki all too much of her grandmother's ever patient and ever-enduring face.

"You are as stubborn as my children are. I don't say this because I want to spite you Ruki; I say this because it is true."

Ruki scowled and walked into the temporary bedroom she had been using when she arrived at the temple. She walked over and picked up her backpack, then walked out the room.

"If I don't stay anywhere near the temple grounds, you no longer have any authority over me," Ruki stated testily. The urge, the demand to go into the forest was beginning to wear away at Ruki's control. Kaho paled at her words realizing what Ruki was going to do.

"It's not safe for you to rough it out there in the forest. There are dangerous beings out there, I can tell that you can feel their presence."

"Well tough for them and you. I'm more than prepared and ready to sleep under the stars! Don't go off and tell me what I can and can't do!"

With that Ruki walked away from the temple grounds and towards the forest. Kaho looked stricken and rushed into the temple to get something. Ruki paid no attention to Kaho's frantic actions and walked towards the gates of the temple haughtily. Ruki was at the gates when Kaho came bursting out the temple with a simple paper charm in her hands.

"Ruki wait!" Kaho shouted. She ran towards the retreating form of Ruki who was at the stairs. Ruki stopped and glared at Kaho as she ran towards Ruki. In Kaho's hand was an ancient looking piece of paper with strange Chinese ideograms that Ruki couldn't read. It's black ink looked fresh though it was on such an ancient piece of paper that Ruki wondered why it didn't just disintegrate?

"What?" Ruki snapped annoyed. What was with Kaho? The old woman that was never this worried or this out of it unless something bad was going to happen. Ruki's conscience scolded her for causing such unnecessary grief for the old woman. Kaho for the first time in Ruki's memory looked genuinely worried about something and that made Ruki wonder what Sen and Kaho was talking about. What enemy were they talking about?

"I want you to take this if you are going to leave the safety of the temple and you are welcomed to come back here any time," Kaho said rapidly and forcefully. Ruki looked at the piece of paper and took it into her hands. The Chinese characters were ancient and out of date, Ruki was quite sure that the character used hadn't been used in Japan for the last century.

"What is this?" Ruki asked. The paper crackled with some sort of power and that made Ruki curious. It felt warm to touch and worn. Her sensitive touch could feel the individuals grooves of many fingers, scratches and other indentation that would normally be insensible to human hands.

"A protection charm... Keep it and don't lose it."

"I don't need this little trinket of yours."

Kaho looked angry and set her jaw. The fascination effect that a kitsune possessed and exuded had a rather annoying tendency of amplifying extreme emotions such as anger and Kaho made a valiant effort to curb her temper. Ruki looked even more surprised by the angry look on Kaho's face and wondered what was going on? Nothing in the last past four year that Ruki known Kaho had ever riled her up to the point of anger. Ruki never knew that it was because she couldn't control how she radiated aura.

"You just don't get it do you Ruki? You are now an ascending kitsune! Don't you know what this means? It means you are about to go beyond what any mortal is supposed to be! You can't control any of your abilities. For example your aura is amplifying my emotions and inciting your urges but you don't know how to quiet them or get them under your control. You know why? Because you are inexperienced and charging off into the woods is not the best way to solve your problems," Kaho explained. She schooled her voice into a calmer tone but Ruki's aura was inciting anger and it was hard to keep down but Kaho had more than sixty strange years of life experience under her belt and that what helped her curb back the tide.

Ruki was more than mildly confused and wondered whether Kaho was correct. The world was crazy enough to have a completely alternate world like the Digital worlds so why not throw in some gods, spirits, ghosts and such? Sen disappeared into thin air, Ruki could feel power pulsing through the air and she quite frankly felt she could take on a digimon without Renamon's help as crazy as it sounded. Life was crazy enough to make the impossible seem possible. Ruki took the charm and placed it in her leather cardholder.

"Satisfied?" Ruki said in a testy voice. Ruki had to admit though seeing the indomitable Kaho fluster in anger was quite entertaining but she killed all the urges that wanted to test the limits of Kaho's patience.

"YES!" Kaho shouted. Ruki could only smirk and walk down the steep stairs in a decidedly cool and slow descent. The way she carried herself reeked with arrogance and over-confidence.

"You don't need to shout you know? That's reserved for the young as you said once to me," Ruki said without turning around or missing a step. It felt all so good making Kaho eat her own words. Ruki's statement made Kaho sputter with indignation and upon realizing the irony of the words Kaho could only scowl.

*****

Juri looked at her photo of the journey that she had with the entire Tamer's team. It was a photo of the first arrival in the digital world almost a year ago. There Juri sat right beside Ruki; the cool one, the strong one, the beautiful one. Juri stared at the photo and sighed with wistfulness. A year of hard work trying to live her life like a normal person; a year trying to piece together her sanity; a year trying to ignore the feelings she had and the confusion. Juri turned on to the radio and immediately heard words from an english song she could scarcely understand the title but it had a rather catchy tune she had to admit. She looked at the photo and listened to the song.

__

High, higher than the sun  
You shoot me from a gun  
I need you to elevate me here  
As corner of your lips  
Is the orbit of your hips  
Eclipse, you elevate my soul

Juri turned away from the picture and picked up a picture of her and Takato at their end of the year graduation photo for grade 5. Ms. Asaji looked so relieved and worn out when she finally gave everyone in the class their little diploma card confirming their graduation of grade 5 and sent them packing to grade 6. Ms. Asaji verbally pitied the grade 6 teacher Mr. Mori who was going to 'inherit' her class. 

__

I've lost all self-control  
Been living like a mole  
Now going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

Juri was quite sure that Ms. Asaji was joking. The class wasn't all that bad... if you could ignore the huge amount of trouble Takato went through for doodling in class. Or the number of times Hirokazu with Kenta's reluctant help pulled off numerous pranks on the girls in the changing rooms. Or the number of times she played with her sock puppet in class because she got bored or nervous and pretty much scared everyone out of their wits. Or the times Terriermon raided the cafeteria with Guilmon, Culumon and Impmon. Oh yes and they mustn't ever forget the fact that they all fought against D-reaper and thus saved the world from utter annihilation.

__

A star lit up like a cigar  
Strung out like a guitar  
Maybe you could educate my mind  
Explain all these controls  
I can't sing but I've got soul  
The goal is elevation

In any case Ms. Asaji was kind enough to take a picture of Juri and Takato standing together in the classroom with their diplomas. Smiles that hid the trauma, the terror and sadness they both felt. Their adventure in the digital world had changed them so much. Juri wondered if she could still the glimpses or flickers of her old self anywhere within her. Takato had changed in some ways that made Juri wonder if anyone else but herself noticed. It was something mysterious and hidden away that Juri couldn't reach it. Takato would only smile and laugh off Juri's concern.

__

A mole, Living in a hole  
Digging up my soul  
Going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

Juri looked harder at the photo and stared at Takato's easy smile. The only thing that seemed to betray the illusion was the look in his eyes. An ever present look of patience and rarely possessed sense of consciousness of everything that had happened. How different they looked from Ruki's eyes. Ruki's eyes seemed so hard and yet Juri could see beneath it something hurt and lost within the depths of her soul. Juri picked up the two pictures and began to compare them between Takato and Ruki and between her old self and present self, wondering what she was trying to look for. Was she looking for the same person that they used to be? Or was she looking for the changes that made the past seem alien and surreal?

__

Love, lift me out of these blues  
Won't you tell me something true  
I believe in you

Juri sighed and put the two photos down. She went to the bunk bed and lay on the bottom bed to close her eyes. Dinnertime would begin soon and Juri would go downstairs to help her parents. Her father and her mother, her family that she had. Juri concentrated on thinking about Ruki's disappearance with worry. Ruki made no sign that she was going to do anything drastic or go away without notice. It made no sense, just as it made sense about that Abaddon character that she and the other Tamers met at the Makino house. Everyone seemed so prepared to harm the strange boy so quickly without thought of what he might do or help him or her. It was such a strange feeling of understanding on how he felt. A feeling that there was something he hid away in the depths of his arrogant and smiling facade. Something that Juri was so utterly familiar with, Abaddon was wearing a mask to hide away from the world. Just like many others, herself included, did to hide themselves away. Ruki was no different but she clung hard to the illusion that it gave her strength while Takato hid behind his mask in an attempt to hide his ever-increasing change.

__

A mole, living in a hole  
Digging up my soul  
Going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

Juri opened her eyes and got up from the bed. Now was not a time to ponder on the past but a time to ponder on what to do for the present. Ruki was missing and action needed to be taken to rectify the situation. If only they knew where Ruki went? The only person, who seemed to even remotely know what was going on was Abaddon and Takato disliked, no despised, Abaddon. Takato hid it well but Juri noted the ire written on his eyes when he first laid on eyes on Abaddon.

__

Elevation...  
Elevation...  
Elevation...  
Elevation...  
Elevation...  
Elevation...

Juri went over to the radio and turned it off. She would have to talk to Takato after the dinner rush was over. There was so many things that Juri wanted to talk to him about. About her, about him, about them and about Ruki that needed to be resolved.

'I think I love you,' Juri thought to herself as she walked down the stairs to the restaurant below.

******

Takato played with the business card that Abaddon had given him. The bold black words bore into his mind as even though he wasn't even paying attention to the words written. His mind flickered between Abaddon's intentions and where Ruki could have possibly gone too. To say none the least, Takato was getting no where and was stumped. Takato remembered his theory on why Ruki went away and then remembered what Jen said of it.

'That's a good theory but the only problem is it still doesn't tell us where she might of gone to,' Jen proclaimed.

The situation was starting to become increasingly unbearable. Takato didn't trust Abaddon as far as he could throw him. The thought of Abaddon got his blood boiling, there was something Abaddon that Takato quite frankly disliked to the extreme. It was akin to throwing water on a fire with stream rising from where the fire once was and the hissing sound as the fire died down and the water overcame.

"Takato!" Mie Matsuda called out. She was busy arranging the bread baked by her husband Takehiro. Mie balanced the tray and set down on the table in the bakery kitchen.

Takato got up from his bed and walked downstairs to the bakery.

"Yes mom?" Takato asked.

"I want you to send some of this bread to the Makino household. It's so sad that their daughter disappeared off like that, so your father and I decided to give some condolence bread. Be a dear and take this to them?" Mie explained as she carefully wrapped the bread. Takato reached for the bread and carefully put into some bags before noticing that his digimon Guilmon was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Guilmon?" Takato asked.

"He's outside digging a hole of some sort," Takehiro answered as he served a customer that came in. Takato could only blink and immediately went outside into the very small yard he had. The backyard was puny even by Japanese standards, it wasn't a yard to some people in fact. More like a narrow footpath between buildings with enough room to possibly make a very small garden if the Matsuda's wished for one. Guilmon blocked one of the paths and was digging a hole.

"Hey Guilmon... What are you doing?" Takato asked. He watched his partner digimon continue to dig at the ground.

"I'm looking for footprints!" Guilmon proudly proclaimed. Takato mind went blank in confusion.

"You're looking for footprints? But Guilmon! You don't need to see footprints to find anyone, you just need to smell..." Takato trailed off and his brain hit a rather brilliant idea.

"THAT'S IT!!" Takato crowed out loud. The sound of Takato's exclamation disrupted the concentration of a next door neighbour who promptly stuck his head out a window and shouted at Takato. Takato didn't hear what the neighbour said and literally patted himself on the back. They didn't need Abaddon's help at all, all they had to do was use Guilmon's nose to smell Ruki's passing. A plan formed in Takato's head, all they had to do was get on the same train that Ruki went on and at every stop try to find Ruki's scent. Guilmon could find Ruki with no problem, one good short whiff on the ground and he could tell whether Ruki had gotten off the train or not. The plan was brilliant, simple and easy that Takato felt like beating his head in for not thinking it earlier.

"Takato! Get in here and deliver the bread all ready!" Mie demanded. Takato was on cloud nine and took the bread without complaint with a sort of triumphant look on his face that made his mother blink in surprise.

"Come on Guilmon! Let's go to Ruki's house and then call Jen! I got a great idea!" Takato cheerily said. 

Guilmon followed his Tamer confused but happy that Takato was so obviously ecstatic about something. Guilmon ran with his tamer and headed towards the Makino household. 

They were completely oblivious that a dark shadow was watching them. A thin sneering smile appeared on the face of the spy and it was pleased. Soon his master would ascend the heavens as was his destiny and he would be justly and richly rewarded. Makino Ruki was as good as dead and her divine essence would feed his master, for it was written in the prophecy of Yllas. She would die the death that was intended for her bastard father Kotaru. She was the essence that was to feed his master's power, not Kotaru as they erroneously thought at first. Ekamon was but one servant in a sea of legions and these 'Tamers' would lead him to his prey. It was all just a matter of waiting for the right time to strike.

Ekamon melded into the shadows once more and watched Takato and Guilmon rush to the Makino household with their load of bread.

"I'm afraid your master is interfering in affairs that we had first claim to meddle in Ekamon," a smooth voice drawled. The smell of sweet tobacco entered the air and Ekamon began to sweat.

"Who are you?" Ekamon asked terrified. Who could have possible entered his shadow realm without his notice? It was impossible; every dimensional pocket was unique for each digimon who possessed the power to do so. No one should be able to pierce or enter the pocket it was impossible.

"Dead men tell no tales... In this case data tells no tales," the voice said idly. Ekamon didn't have time to turn around, scream or try to exit his secret dimensional pocket. He felt no pain though he noticed a powerful clawed fist had gone right through it's bipedal torso. Shock registered on Ekamon mind and he then realized that what he did next didn't matter. Ekamon was all ready dead. The clawed fist pulled back and removed itself from the torso quickly. Ekamon turned around to see who had killed him as he felt his data stream out into the air and be absorbed by another digimon. Ekamon saw a tall six-foot humanoid shaped tiger in a suit that was idly cleaning his hands off with a handkerchief and was smoking a cigar.

"Ruksashamon?" Ekamon asked before he was completely gone. The data floated in the air and Ruksashamon eagerly absorbed it but he was annoyed.

"That's Ruksasha to you... Not that it's of any use to you," Ruksasha explained. He put away his handkerchief and took the cigar out of his mouth. He thought to himself quietly before speaking out loud to no one in particular.

".... Damn... They're moving faster than I thought..."


	8. A Little Secret and Sorrowful Betrayal

Sigh... After hanging my head and moping in a corner for stupidly erasing Darken Pathways future chapters and a bunch of other stories I was working on like "Between Heaven and Earth". I am now forging once more ahead with my fic writing and will soon get everything back on line.

Lee Mayumi: Mother   
Lee Rinchei: Jenrya's older brother  
Lee Jaarin: Jenrya's older sister

I was asked awhile ago from a friend who asked me about where I got my idea for this fic. I suppose I should explain the inspiration.

I was pretty much brought up with these old legends of Japanese folklore from my grandmother. She told me of a story the samuraiko (female samurai warrior) who discovered she was a kitsune and was forced to deal with it. Her loyalty to the warrior code Bushido and personal commitment was severely tested by the supernatural urges and enemies that she had gained. In the end she managed to overcome it but she did a lot of embarrassing things and eventually committed seppuku (ritual suicide) in penance for her deeds that she thought were unbefitting for a samurai. Ironically her suicide sealed her fate as kitsune and she became one with the spiritual world leaving behind the material plane to life with Lady Inari, mother of all kitsune.... I sort of based the story loosely, very very loosely, on that story my grandmother told me years ago.

__

Help yourself  
If you know why you came  
Cause if you need help she says...  
There's something I've got saved  
This is not what you wanted  
These candy-coated fakes  
This is not what you wanted, this is pain  
Our Lady Peace.

His son's quick exit or the petulant glare his youngest daughter was giving him did not please Lee Janyuu nor the bemused look that his wife Mayumi was giving him. His wife had been in the hallway and overheard Shuichon's announcement. She was curious as to why there was such a ruckus in Jen's room and was immensely amused by his somewhat annoyed badgered father look on his face.

"Stop frowning like that Janyuu or you'll get wrinkles and grey hair, you know they are growing up," Mayumi said amused and at the same time looked rather strained in her smile.

"I all ready have grey hair and wrinkles. They're way too young to be thinking about things like that... Isn't that right young lady?" Janyuu asked Shuichon who held Lopmon tightly in her arm. Lopmon's face strained and turned red from Shuichon strong grasp.

"I'm not too young! I'm a Tamer!" Shuichon said in a slightly insulted and indignant voice. Mayumi could only smile and kneeled down to her youngest daughter's height. Hirokazu and Kenta with MarineAngemon exited Jen's room.

"As long as you're the youngest child of this..." Janyuu began his ever-familiar lecture that he often used on Shuichon. It was cute off by his wife who hugged her youngest daughter.

"How would like to know that she's not going to be the youngest in the family any more Janyuu?" Mayumi asked in a rather strained voice as she was forcing herself to be as pleasant as possible for the sake of her family.

"....." Janyuu stared at his wife slack jawed while Hirokazu, Kenta and MarineAngemon just blinked, understanding and not understanding.

"You mean a little brother or sister of my own?" Shuichon asked awed. Lopmon blanched at the thought of more hyperactive little kids running around the apartment and decided that the first thing he would do when Terriermon returned home was a make a alliance between themselves against little children.

"Oh honey... You're not telling me..." Janyuu began as he let the news slid into his brain. Mayumi glared up annoyed.

"Why yes dear! We are going to have some children again!" Mayumi said in a slightly hysterical voice.

Janyuu slumped against the wall and thought about it.

"I'm getting too old to chase around little two-year-olds," he muttered. Mayumi took offence to his comment.

"You should have thought of that before we decided to 'celebrate' for a couple months after the D-Reaper incident," Mayumi shot back. She let go of Shuichon and stood up again.

"... Wait a second... did you say children? As in more than one?" Lopmon asked feeling mildly ill and more than slightly terrified. He prayed to Zhuqiaomon that the children would not have a partaking taste in frilly dresses or the sort.

Janyuu looked at his wife silently begging her that she did not indeed say 'children'. Mayumi could only smile in a somewhat deranged looking way.

"Why Janyuu your going to be the father of two brand new babies!... Surprise present before your forty-second birthday! Sorry it's a little early!" Mayumi continued.

"Dear god woman..." Janyuu said shocked. Lopmon could only shudder uncontrollably at the thought.

"Well let's order some Chinese take out for dinner. I heard that Paolin has just added some new dishes to their menu so lets try them out. Oh yeah and we need to buy some baby supplies, like clothing, diapers," Mayumi rattled on in a less than sane voice. Kenta, Hirokazu and MarineAngemon backed away from the pregnant woman. Shuichon stared up at her mother wondering a few things.

"Where are we going to put the new babies' mommy?" Shuichon asked in a curious voice. Janyuu approached his wife to soothe her.

"Well we could make you share your room with your older sister Jaarin and make your two older brother's Jen and Rinchei. That way we have at least one room freed up for the babies and ..." Mayumi stopped and then continued in a different vein of topics though in the same less than sane tone of voice, "damn you Janyuu! You got me pregnant again! You know how painful labour is? It took thirty-two hours of godforsaken labour to get Shuichon born! There is no way I want to go through that again!"

Janyuu quickly pushed his wife into the bedroom to talk things over. The shouting had attracted the two older Lee siblings and they came running down the hall after overhearing the entire conversation.

"Aww... jeez... Don't tell me dad got mom pregnant again? Where are we going to put the kid? On the roof?" Rinchei whined as he approached the hallway. His sister could only groan.

"There's not enough space in the rooms to put all my stuff in and you expect me to share with Shuichon? That's not fair!" Jaarin complained.

"Not now okay kids? Why don't you get something ordered at Paolin and I'll pick it up?" Janyuu said through gritted teeth. This was not something he wanted to deal with right now but he had no choice.

"Why don't you see Hirokazu and Kenta out? Oh yes and order some shrimp shumai and some nikuman. Jen and Terriermon like those the best and..." Mayumi continued in a babbling sort of way forgetting her anger.

"... Er... And I thought my family was hectic..." Hirokazu commented as Janyuu managed to get his wife through the door of their bedroom and closed it to talk privately.

"You should have seen what mom said and did to my dad after Shuichon was born and she regained consciousness..." Rinchei commented in a slightly tired voice.

"That was torture Janyuu! I'm never doing this pregnancy gig again as long as I live! I'm not even going to get near you after this. It just hurts too much! You can sleep on the floor from now on!" Jaarin imitated her mother down to a tee.

"I heard that!" Mayumi shouted through the doors while the soothing voice of Janyuu could be heard behind the door.

"I guess we'll escort you out," Rinchei said. He looked less than enthusiastic of the news of the expectant members of the Lee family.

Hirokazu, Kenta and MarineAngemon seemed a little more than eager to get out of the apartment. So far they had witnessed Terriermon's torture and subsequent rant about taking over the world, Ryou's unexpected phone call, Takato using his brain for once and Shuichon's unexpected announcement of Jen's crush plus something about leather. It was just too weird, they would expect this from Ruki's family and perhaps Takato's but never the relatively normal Lee family.

"What's labour? Is that how babies are made?" Shuichon asked in a innocent voice.

"... Looks like it's Jen's turn to teach Shuichon the birds and the bees...." Jaarin joked weakly. Rinchei shuffled uncomfortably at the thought.

"Nice visiting," Kenta managed to say as he past the bedroom doors where Janyuu and Mayumi were talking. Words and snatches of conversation could be heard behind the door.

"Pipe pipipi," MarineAngemon said imitating his tamer. It flew besides Kenta and tried to snuggle back into his pocket to sleep some more.

"Now calm down dear," Janyuu could be heard behind the bedroom door.

"No I will not calm down! What was I thinking doing this all over again!" Mayumi could be heard in a slightly sobbing voice.

"Don't worry dear, I'm sure your very happy. It's just the pregnancy is making you a little angry and depressed. I'm happy I just didn't expect this at all," Janyuu continued. The two past the door as quickly as possible and exited the apartment.

Kenta with MarineAngemon past the exit without incident while Hirokazu found himself cornered by one very curious little girl.

"What are the birds and the bee's Hirokazu nii-chan?" Shuichon asked. 

"Um... I have to go and look for your older brother Jen... Ask your other sister and brother okay?" Hirokazu said hurriedly and ran off towards Kenta and MarineAngemon. They left the apartment and the Lee family behind. Running down the steps they eventually arrived outside and took a small break.

"... So... How are we going to find Jen?" Hirokazu asked. He idly stared at the darkening skies and felt his stomach grumble with hunger.

"I don't know... let's go to Takato's place and bum some bread, I'm sure MarineAngemon would like something to eat," Kenta commented.

"... Hey let's go to Ruki's place..." Hirokazu said out of the blue.

"What? Hey man what are you thinking?" Kenta asked surprised. He was hungry and home was far away from Ruki's house.

"I just thought of it that's all. I'm willing to bet my Seraphimon card that that's where Jen is heading because Ryou is there," Hirokazu said in a rather exaggerated thoughtful tone of voice. Kenta sighed and say his partner digimon in the custom pocket asleep. Hirokazu looked annoyed at MarineAngemon.

"I wish Guardromon could come with us instead of staying at home," Hirokazu sighed.

"Well Guardromon's not the most easy disguisable digimon in the world," Kenta commented.

"Whatever man. I'm heading towards Ruki's place are you coming or not?" Hirokazu asked as he began to walk away from Kenta.

"Oh don't tell me you're actually leaving me behind if I don't come?" Kenta whined and began walking after Hirokazu.

*****

Ryou was bored. He was bored of watching Monodramon do laps around the house to make him stop complaining about boredom. The sounds of Monodramon huffing and puffing as he ran around the yard and behind the house could be heard. It was relatively quiet and the garden from where he was laying was a sight to behold. The golden radiance of the setting sun cast itself on the grass and small pond that graced the area. It was shining like polished metal and the sun was directly cast on the hall where he was.

'How very ironic. Monodramon kept on saying he was bored and now I'm bored,' Ryou thought to himself as he lay on the hallway trying to absorb as much warmth from the setting sun. Ryou eyes wandered around the hall and rested on a closed paper sliding door that lead into Ruki's room. He wondered about a lot of things like why Ruki went off to who knows where without telling anyone or if she wore dresses.

Ryou groaned with pain at his thoughts. If Monodramon ever heard of what Ryou was thinking he would never live it down. Sighing Ryou pushed himself up into a proper sitting position and stared at the sliding door. That was when he heard his D-ark begin to beep as if urgently trying to tell him that a wild one was nearby but Monodramon did not come running at Ryou to ready himself for such an enemy. Ryou pulled out his D-ark and looked at it. The small device immediately went into a sort of compass mode and pointed at Ruki's room with alarm beeps sounding off to try and convince Ryou to investigate.

"What the..." Ryou muttered to himself as he got up from his seat. He began to walk towards Ruki's room and stopped just outside the paper sliding doors unsure as to what to do. He was after all in another person's house and it was hardly polite to waltz right into a bedroom without permissions. Especially a girl's room and especially since the said girl who lived in that room was stronger than most guys you know. Ryou groaned at disbelief at his predicament and debated what to do. He was curious why his D-ark was going insane and was pretty much pointing towards Ruki's room. He bent over and listen to see if he could hear anything moving in the room and heard nothing.

The D-ark stopped beeping and Monodramon began another lap around the house without taking any notice of his Tamer's attention on Ruki's bedroom door.

"Aw... To hell with it," Ryou said and then threw open the bedroom doors to look in. He was surprised to see just how sparsely furnished the room was. The walls were totally devoid of any posters or ornaments except a single calendar and in the middle of the room was a small low table. There were two drawers and a single large wardrobe made of hardwood in a corner. Near where he was standing at the door was a clothe hanger where Ruki's school uniform hung, smoothed out and perfectly arranged. On the floor were two bags which Rumiko had dropped off an hour ago. No childhood toys graced the floor or anything of the sort. There was closet at one wall with a paper sliding door to conceal the contents of the closet. Ryou walked into the room and looked at his D-ark expectantly waiting for another reaction.

Silence filled the air and Ryou felt mildly embarrassed by it all. Here he was standing in the middle of an empty room waiting for something to happen. Ryou looked around to see what could have set off his D-ark and could find nothing. On the table was a few digimon gaming cards and remnants of some school work that Ruki never got around to finishing. On the top of one wooden drawers was perfectly arranged bouquet of flowers that looked as though they needed watering and some game tournament trophies and medals. Other than that there was barely anything else in the room. It felt sterile with a sort stale and uncomfortable 'this is where I sleep, nothing important' sort of feel.

'Jeez, Ruki you really need to spruce up your room... Even I have more stuff than you,' Ryou thought as he moved more inwards into the room to look around. His D-ark went off again and directly pointed into the wardrobe that was to his left. Ryou stopped for a moment and looked around to see if his D-ark was indeed pointing at the wardrobe and not at something else.

'Great... I guess I should open the doors up then,' Ryou thought and reached for the handles.

*****

Takato happily walked to the Makino household with his load of bread and Guilmon by his side. Today was indeed a happy day and they would soon find where Ruki went and retrieve her. That meant that they never had to deal with 'Devil's Advocate Unlimited' ever again and they could all go back to with their lives together. Takato let the feeling wash over the word 'together'. He had all ready failed once in that regard to keep the group 'together' but now it didn't matter. Ruki would be back and Juri would be happy again as would everyone else.

"TERRIERMON IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT LEATHER AND RUKI! I'LL BUY SHUICHON AN ENTIRE WARDROBE OF NEW PRINCESS PRETTY PANTS CLOTHING TO LAST HER A LIFETIME! AND I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM HER WHEN SHE DECIDES TO 'PLAY' WITH YOU!" Jen's voice could be heard shattering the relative silence of the residential area. Birds took flight from the shouting and Takato was jarred out of his thoughts and stopped in the middle of the street. Jen sounded incredibly upset and angry, sort of like when he went berserk on Shuichon putting herself in danger.

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!!" Terriermon shouted in terror.

"JUST WATCH ME!" Jen shouted back as he came into Takato's sight. Terriermon was latched onto Jen's head like an overgrown hat and was balefully glaring at his Tamer. Guilmon looked confused and looked Takato much like how a dog would look curiously at it's owner with a slight tilt of his head.

"Takato is that Jen and Terriermon... Why are they shouting?" Guilmon asked. People in their houses began to poke their heads out the window to get a better look at who was making all the racket. Jen noticed the people and immediately fell silent trying to become inconspicuous as possible but Terriermon refused to be quiet.

"That's just like you Jen! Don't you know you're threats don't really scare anyone? You always chicken out at the last moment or it's usually useless! Well I call your bluff!" Terriermon announced. Silently though Terriermon was afraid that his mouth had finally gotten into the heap load called eternal torment under Shuichon's young and energetic hands. He was deathly afraid that Jen might actually carry out his threat about buying new Princess Pretty Pants clothing for Shuichon for real. He prayed to anyone who listened that Jen would not do anything of the sort.

'Okay... I have thirteen thousand yen... Each dress that Shuichon wants costs about five hundred yen and I want to buy that entire box of Digimon cards so that's eight thousand yen...' Jen began to calculate in his head as he walked. He immediately grabbed Terriermon and covered his mouth to muffle any words that Terriermon would have said. Obviously no one in heaven was listening to Terriermon's prayers.

"Hello Jen," Guilmon said in his childish voice. He was busy wondering what was so important about leather and Ruki. He just couldn't make the connection.

"Um, hey Jen how's it going?" Takato asked, not quite understanding the situation between Jen and Terriermon. He stared at the two with his load, not quite sure if he wanted ask.

"Oh, hey Takato. Hey Guilmon," Jen said in a miserable voice. He walked up to Takato's side to talk to the boy.

"Where are you heading?" Takato asked.

"I'm heading to Ruki's house. Ryou's there and so I thought I go over there and see how's he's doing."

"Oh. So am I! My parent's made some sympathy bread for Ruki's family and I was just heading over there myself."

"... Great..." Jen said with less conviction and enthusiasm at the news. Terriermon struggled from his grasp to say something. Terriermon strained against Jen's arm and moved side to side in an attempt to break free.

"Ah, is there something Terriermon wants to say?" Takato asked watching the struggle. Terriermon gave Takato and Guilmon a pleading look as if saying 'Jen's gone insane! Save me'. Takato didn't move to help Terriermon, after all, Jen would only do something like this for a good reason.

"Lets... head over... there," Jen struggled to say. He wrestled with Terriermon and began walking again. Takato followed, as did Guilmon, wondering exactly what was going on. More importantly for Guilmon, the connection between leather and Ruki.

"What's leather have to do with Ruki's disappearance Takato?" Guilmon asked as they headed over to Ruki's home.

*****

"Perhaps this isn't the most intelligent thing I should have done," Ruki muttered to herself. Her stomach growled with hunger and she caught her hand reaching for her supplies. A little hunger for now would do no harm or so Ruki thought but for some reason the hunger pains were more acute then they ever were.

The sun was fully behind the mountain and darkness was falling. The trees began to darken and it became harder to see and became colder. Ruki walked through a mountain pass well away from the stone steps and red arches that lead up to the temple. She was well away from any well beaten path that humans may have carved. All around her the splendour of nature asserted it's claim and she could sense everything around her. In the clear crisp silence she heard nothing but leaves crunching under her feet and the babbling of water from a nearby mountain stream. The sounds of insects and birds were absent and she could hear nothing of her quarry. Ruki could see four thousand feet away as if she was just standing next that spot where she stood without a problem and in detail. The smell of damp earth, leaves and a faint wind from the north carried the smell of pine a good distance. Ruki could feel ever depression in the earth as she walked. It was starkly contrasting sense compared to what she used to sense as her... 'unascended' self, the old Ruki who was mortal and now the 'new' Ruki who could seemly sense things and tire less easily. The past world was so dull and now the world was filled with new things to sense and enjoy. Ruki had a sneaking suspicion that perhaps Kaho knew more about this ascending business than she let on. She had been walking for with a heavy backpack for at least two hours without feeling the slightest bit tired or stopping for a rest, it was only her hunger that was slowing her down slightly.

Ruki stopped and looked around to see if she could find whatever she was looking for but all she saw was trees and a little further behind the foliage the stream that she could hear a far in the distance. Whatever she had been chasing Ruki could no longer sense any more. Ruki felt more disappointed than she should have felt. The chase had ended and she had not discovered what was the source. Ruki sighed and looked up at the sky. It's golden color was not lost upon her and she knew that breaking camp was a good idea. Then she felt it again, faintly but sure the aura that came so close to the temple. Ruki snapped her head and looked at the direction where she felt it. 

'Run after it... It's going to get away unless you run," Ruki thought she heard another little voice in her head. It sounded oddly like Renamon but the quality and timbre of the voice was different. The urge to chase the aura began to grow, reasoning that it would do no harm to run after it since Ruki had all ready been looking for it for a while.

Ruki did not like that idea from a tactical point of view. Whatever was up ahead could be an ambush, though why and exactly how an ambush could happen was still a mystery. Blithely chasing after the thing could lead her on a wild goose chase and make her become lost in the forest. This however was lost in the chaos and the urges pressed on her mind. Ruki felt her legs moving and then realized she was running. Fast, very fast, too fast to be humanly possible. A sense of detraction from reality happened in Ruki's mind as the forest around her blurred. The world seemed to go in slow motion and Ruki shot ahead like an eagle soaring above the earth. It was exhilarating and gave her a sense of power that she never thought she would feel. Coursed through her veins like liquid fire and yet she felt no pain, just content and satisfaction. But it's hard to think of such things when she could only see the target and it's aura was getting stronger until she saw who it was or more truthfully what it was. Ruki stopped and looked at it with a mild interest and surprise.

She came to a clearing the forest and saw... absolutely nothing yet the aura of whatever she had been chasing was still heavy in the air. There was no footprints to be seen on the ground and no evidence of any recent passage such as broken branches and such. Ruki was stumped, baffled by what was going on and what she was trying to find. Then she heard a little ways off in the distance the crackling of dry leaves as if someone ever so softly treaded on them. The sound was enough to make Ruki turn her head to see what made the sound.

It stood on gangly insect legs, thinly muscled and it's body was a bright red color with clawed hands that seemed to drip with green ooze of some sort. The face was no less hideous, sharp fangs and heavy jowl marked it's feature with white eyes that shined with malice. It was crouched no less than eight hundred feet away and stared at Ruki. That was when Ruki noticed the aura of the thing was different from the aura of others she was chasing. The aura was distinct sickly yellow color that seemed to blacken and sicken the plants around it. Though it hardly mattered to Ruki, it was an enemy and an abomination, a thing that shouldn't exist at all.

It skittered a little closer to Ruki and Ruki took a step back as it did. She kept her eye on it and found herself breathing hard. All her senses and urges screamed at her to destroy it and yet a more rational part of her mind argued how she could possible survive such a battle. Without Renamon, Ruki would only get herself injured or worse. There was no way Ruki could win a battle against... whatever it was.

The thing began to chitter chatter with a fast staccato of sound that echoed through the air and that was when Ruki felt the same auras. She dared to turn her head around and could see one more yellow auras, further off but no less malevolent. It was then that the thing attacked. It made a huge powerful leap that ate up the distance between Ruki and itself. Ruki sensed the thing moving and saw it in the air, jumping downwards with claws splayed and ready. Somehow Ruki felt very calm, fear was non-existent and all she felt was the same rush she got when she was running in the woods after the eight good auras. Time seemed to slow down and the creature's descent went at a snails pace. Ruki could only smirk as she felt the rush surge forth within her like lightning.

"I'll walk all over you," Ruki smiled. She then jumped up into the air. The battle had begun and she was going to win.

******

Ryou looked in the hardwood wardrobe and his body simply shut down. He felt gravity pull him down to the ground and he landed with a thud on his ass but his eyes still remained on the wardrobe and its contents. There was nothing gruesome such as a dead body in the thing but a far more surprising sight.

Pink frilly girly dresses, cute green ones, red ones as well, the colors of the rainbow he was tempted to say, and a hat that was positively feminine. Ryou tried to imagine Ruki in any one of those dresses but his brain failed to compute the information properly instead it made Ryou absentmindedly wonder if Ruki secretly 'dressed up' when she got home and acted like a stereotypical girly girl. It was impossible really seeing that Renamon; her grandmother or mother could walk in on her and catch her. Not to mention it just didn't sound like Ruki at all. He tried to imagine it.

A mental image of Ruki came into mind. She looked like as she always had with the same glare and clothing. Then in a flash she began smiling and was dressed in a pink frilly dress with the equally pink frilly hat, giggling like ... well... like a girly girl. Ryou tried to stop it but it was too late. He began to laugh out loud until his sides began to hurt.

"What's going on?!... You know Ryou if want to do panty raid on Ruki's stash, your supposed to remain quiet and check the drawers, not the wardrobe," Monodramon said. He seemed to materialize out of nowhere and behind him were Takato, Jen, Guilmon, Terriermon and Seiko who all looked surprised to see Ryou on the ground laughing and in Ruki's room.

"... Um..." Jen began wondering exactly why Ryou was in Ruki's room in the first place.

"I am not trying to do a panty raid!" Ryou said hastily and got up from the floor. He smoothed out his shirt embarrassed and was lightly blushing.

"Then what were you trying to do? Trying to see if she kept a photo of you somewhere?" Terriermon asked in a sarcastic voice.

"Never thought of that... She probably has one just to throw darts at somewhere," Ryou said jokingly.

Takato walked into the room and was surprised to see how simplistic Ruki's room was. His room was overflowing with pictures he had drawn and posted up but Ruki's walls were bare.

"Why are you in here Ryou?" Takato asked before Ryou could answer all the Tamer's D-ark began to beep. Takato and Jen took theirs out and looked at the compass on their D-ark point at Ruki's wardrobe. Jen moved closer to the wardrobe and blinked in surprise at the contents in it. Terriermon began snickering while Guilmon stood there admiring the colors of the dresses.

"Oh... Pretty colors Takato," Guilmon commented. Terriermon went into hysterics and smirked.

"So Ruki does have a feminine side to her," Terriermon commented.

"Actually no, Rumiko bought all those clothing's for Ruki but Ruki never wears them so they're tossed in there," Seiko clarified. She knew that the others were used to Ruki's normal clothing but she never suspected that seeing a dress in the wardrobes would send them all into shock and hysterics. Takato tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. The D-ark stopped beeping again and fell silent.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Jen commented. He looked at the wardrobe and wondered what made the D-ark go insane. Pausing for a moment he continued.

"Seiko-san, did you see Ruki's D-ark anywhere?" Jen asked and walked towards Ruki's low table in the middle of the bedroom. Seiko paused for a moment and thought of it for a moment.

"Now that you mention it, it wasn't on Ruki the day before she disappeared," Seiko answered. She had noticed at the dinner table the evening before Ruki's disappearance that the D-ark was not in it's traditional leather holder.

"Hmm... So Ruki's D-ark must be in the wardrobe," Takato theorized, he reached into take a dress down but stopped.

"Oh... You wouldn't mind if we take these dresses out would you?" Takato asked. He had almost forgotten his manners. Seiko simply nodded.

"Go right ahead, I want to get rid of some of the dresses and give them away to people. Some them are getting to small for Ruki," Seiko answered.

"What? No panty raiding?" Monodramon asked disappointed thoroughly and looked dejected. The others ignored Monodramon and began emptying out Ruki's wardrobe. The profusion of lace and bright colors made them snicker at the thought that Ruki might possible have worn them. 

Jen struggled keep his thoughts on locating the source of the D-ark's frantic beeping. He however began to wander off when he noted that some of the dresses would actually look good on Ruki, if she ever bothered to wear them and smile a bit more. Jen began to blush, fortunately Terriermon, Guilmon and Takato were busy emptying out the wardrobe while Monodramon simply watched Ryou to make comment. Takato and Guilmon on the other hand was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of dresses that Rumiko had purchased for Ruki and wondered why in the world women would need so many. They didn't quite grasp the mysteries of the female mind, or in this case the mind Makino Rumiko's fashion taste. Ryou did all he could from laughing out loud as more and more dresses emptied the wardrobe. The very idea that Ruki would wear anything from the wardrobe was ridiculous and not to mention abnormal of Ruki. Ryou let his eyes wander a bit around the room and noticed Jen's slightly red face. The little flare called jealously was stoked again when Ryou noted that Jen was looking perhaps a bit too hard at some of the dresses that were now strewn across the floor.

'He's probably imagining Ruki in one of them. Good luck trying to make that a reality... Unless he's staring at the dresses because he likes to 'dress up' himself,' Ryou thought with a slight chuckle though he still glared at Jen. He had not forgotten that over the phone he heard Shuichon's announcement, it annoyed him to no end.

Monodramon was bored again. His Tamer seemed way too busy glaring at the oblivious Lee boy and Takato looked baffled along with Terriermon and Guilmon why Rumiko bought Ruki a pink parasol when a hat would suffice against the sun. Monodramon shifted and looked up at Seiko who calmly stared at the table while the boys took out the dresses from the wardrobe, she was sitting at the low table waiting for the boys to finish and was staring at the digimon cards that Ruki had left on the table.

"Guys there's nothing in here that could have possibly set off our D-arks. It's completely empty!" Takato proclaimed and backed off from the wardrobe. Guilmon looked down at the pile of dresses and then at his Tamer.

"So what do we do Takato?" Guilmon asked. Jen crossed his arms and tried to think but the image of Ruki in a dress seemed to screw up his thought pattern. Jen silently cursed Shuichon and Terriermon's runaway mouths. He looked around the room and noticed that Ryou was giving him the look of death for some reason.

"Um, Ryou-san, is everything all right?" Jen asked. Ryou abruptly stopped his glare and smiled at Jen but that only made Jen feel even more nervous. The smile seemed to say 'I'll get you back latter because I don't want to dirty the floor'. Why Ryou was smiling in a such way was a mystery to Jen who wondered if he really wanted to know.

"Everything's fine, just thought of something that I didn't liked," Ryou answered. It was a lie but hey it sounded nice at the very least. Seiko seemed to roll her eyes in disbelief as if she read the lie for what it was.

Jen didn't quite believe what Ryou said but at the moment he was stumped. What was so important about the wardrobe? It was then that their D-arks went off again with the compass still pointing at the wardrobe. Jen was baffled and looked down at the table where Seiko sat. Seiko had picked up one of the digimon cards and looked at it with expert care. The card was somewhat worn on one side and in ragged condition. It was quite unusual since Ruki acted like hypochondriac when it came to her cards. Each card had it's own seemingly special place in her deck or set with each having a plastic over-protector of some sort but the cards on the table were quite common and more or less useless in most situations. The cards were in fact depressed in the middle as if a great weight was placed on them and the scratches were deep into the cards. Jen picked up some of the cards and inspected them closely and discovered that each and every one of them was indeed common.

Takato checked the wardrobe and then the adjacent walls trying to discover what so important about the wardrobe. He tried to look behind it but it was too dark. The D-arks still beeped insistently that they find the source of the disturbance.

"Hey Ryou could you move this thing?" Takato asked. Ryou looked at Takato and walked over the edge of the wardrobe and tried to move it. The wardrobe turned out to be surprisingly heavy and didn't move a single inch.

"Watch out boys, that wardrobe is made of hardwood and is quite valuable," Seiko spoke up as she watched them attempt to move the wardrobe out of the way. Jen simply inspected the cards and came to a theory.

"Move out of the way for a sec," Jen announced. He looked under each leg and saw that there was a card stuck under each one. Jen slipped another card under each leg of the wardrobe on its right side like a track. He then grabbed the edge of the wardrobe and eased it out. The wardrobe moved easily and revealed the back wall behind the wardrobe. The D-arks stopped beeping and Jen could see a small hole in the wall with something glowing.

"What are you guys doing in there?" Hirokazu's loud voice broke the silence. He in the garden with Kenta and MarineAngemon just outside Ruki's bedroom and stared in.

"What's with all the dresses?" Kenta asked as he stared the amount of dresses that were on the floor with wide eyes.

Ryou looked surprised and blinked. He had not noticed the dubious duo enter and jumped in surprise.

"Jeez, is everyone trying to sneak up on me today? First Renamon, then these guys and now you," Ryou said. 

"Well it's kind of hard not too. I mean what's with all the dresses?" Hirokazu asked. He looked closely and noticed that the dresses were far too small for an adult. Hirokazu blinked and added two and two together.

"Those aren't..." Kenta began when he noticed the dresses in detail.

"... Ruki's?...." Hirokazu went silent speechless at the volume of dresses on the ground.

The two began giggling and then started to hoot with laughter. 

"I'm never letting Ruki live this down!" Hirokazu said as he laughed like a hyena. Kenta tried desperately not to choke as he laughed.

Jen sighed and kept on pulling back the wardrobe. The cards easily slid the wardrobe in a half arc but it took a lot of effort on Jen's part still. The hardwood wardrobe weighed a ton and it was slow going however Jen managed to open it enough to ease himself through towards the hole in the wall. Hidden behind the wardrobe was a hole and Jen reached in and pulled out a box. It was rather beautifully made with sweeping woodwork etched over the top and strange looking sigils in silver that curved all over it. Large and wide on the side, it could easily keep all of Ruki's digimon playing cards if she wanted to use it for that purpose. On the box was a childishly scrawled note taped on that read 'If you are reading this, that means I'm going to kick your ass. DO NOT OPEN!". Jen brought the box out into the open where everyone could see, unfortunately everyone started to gather around Jen and he felt rather claustrophobic again.

"Guys back off all ready! I'll place on the table for everyone to see!" Jen managed to say. Hirokazu, Kenta and MarineAngemon entered the room. Seiko looked up at the box in surprise.

"Can I see that box for a moment?" Seiko asked in a surprised voice. Jen blinked and gave the beautiful box to Seiko who held in breath.

"I haven't seen this box for seven years. It's a family heirloom I gave to Ruki for her fourth birthday. I thought she lost it," Seiko began and looked over the box. It was a little dusty but other than that it was in excellent condition. Not a single scratch could be seen anywhere and the woodwork were not broken in any way. Seiko placed the box on the table in front of her and stared at it. Her hands trembled and smiled at the note on the box. Ryou read it off out loud.

"If you are reading this, that means I'm going to kick your ass. Do not open... That sounds like Ruki all right but what's with the bad writing? I can hardly read it," Ryou commented. Seiko began laughing quietly with some mirth in her eyes.

"When Ruki got the box and I told her that you're supposed to put your most valued possessions in it. So Ruki wanted to put a note on it so Rumiko would not open it and look in. Though I have to admit the way she wrote the note was less than diplomatic," Seiko said. She carefully removed the note and placed on the table.

"Sounds exactly like Ruki now... even from age four," Hirokazu commented. He was curious as to what was in the box. Once again everyone's D-ark began to beep furiously and this light and noise escaped from the box. The D-arks immediately all went into compass mode and pointed at the box as the source.

"Looks like we'll have to open the box and suffer Ruki's wrath when she gets home," Terriermon said in an amused voice. Monodramon looked at the box and noticed a combination lock on the box.

"There's a lock. Let's break it open," Monodramon said. Seiko eyes widened and immediately hid the box away from Monodramon.

"What?! It's just a box!" Monodramon commented annoyed at all the looks everyone was giving him. The beeping stopped.

"I know the combination to open the box, unless Ruki decided to change it. It's the date of my birth;" Seiko said and began to move the numbers to the combo 2-7-5-4. The box opened and inside was few things such as pictures; Ruki's D-ark, a book and pendant. Among the pictures was a picture of everyone standing together including with their family, the Monster Makers and Hypnos in the aftermath of D-Reaper. It was an extra large picture and everyone was in it. Another picture was Ruki and Juri sitting down together on their first visit to the digital world and more. In fact every picture that the Tamer's had taken while in the digital world and some more were in the box. The pendant was a simple gold one with a cross over it and a X mark through it. The book was closed and well worn.

"... February 7, 1954? You're only fifty-one years old?!" Kenta commented when he saw the combination. Seiko looked up in surprise and nodded.

"Wait a second! Just how young was Ruki's mom when she had Ruki?" Hirokazu asked. They didn't know it but their tactless question was treading on sensitive territory.

"Rumiko was seventeen when she gave birth to Ruki. Didn't Ruki tell you anything about this?" Seiko asked.

"But that means you were around forty years of age when you became a grandmother," Jen calculated quietly. Seiko coughed lightly at the situation but even Ryou and Takato looked surprised at the revelation.

"... If I made my mother and father a grandparent at that age, they'd kick my ass," Hirokazu commented.

"I wouldn't blame them," Seiko answered dryly.

"Can I join in to kick your ass?" Monodramon asked.

"Yeah I want a swipe as well!" Terriermon also joined in. Jen gave Terriermon a stern look, which killed Terriermon's desire to make additional comments.

"Well we've found Ruki's D-ark. So much for your tracking idea Takato," Jen commented.

"Actually that's not how I wanted to track Ruki but that was good way as well," Takato answered. Jen raised his eyebrow and looked at the shorter boy wondering what he meant.

"Track Ruki? How?" Ryou asked. Everyone became silent and waited for Takato to answer.

"I was meaning to use Guilmon to track Ruki down. Guilmon can smell out tracks. Remember in the digital world he did that? Well I was going to use Guilmon's nose and sniff out Ruki's passage. All we have to do is get on the same train she was on and sniff out each stop to see if Ruki got off there," Takato answered. Everyone was quite impressed at the idea.

"All right that means I don't have to use Ruksasha's help!" Ryou said, at that everyone blinked.

"Ruksasha?" Jen asked. Ryou noted the confusion on everyone faces and told the incident on the train and the run in with the 'Devils Advocate Unlimited'. He took out the business card that Ruksasha had left them.

"Let's just say I'm not too fond of Ruksasha or interested in using any of their services," Ryou said ending his recollection of his run in with him.

"That sounds exactly like Abaddon. They must work together or something but we don't need their help any more," Takato said. Inwardly he thought, 'good riddance.'

"That's great! Now we just need to get tickets for the train and we're all set to look for Ruki! Nothing can stop us!!" Hirokazu proclaimed. It was then that a crackling boom of lightning could be heard behind Hirokazu. Then immediately heard the pitter patter of rain on the roofs and then an entire divulge of water. Hirokazu's back was to the garden and he slowly turned his head around and saw that it was raining very hard outside.

"Um Takato the scent's going to be washed off by the rain... How are we going to find Ruki?" Guilmon asked. Takato eye twitched and stared at the rain. He walked to the hallway and looked at the sky and saw the clouds that crackled with lightning. Jen picked up Ruki's D-ark to look at it and sighed.

"Great! Now what are we going to do?" Kenta moaned. MarineAngemon limply flew in the air as their idea went crashing down to earth like a ball of flame.

Ryou simply looked at the rain somewhat annoyed. Seiko got up from the table and closed the box.

"I have dinner ready, there's enough for everyone. Why don't you all stay for dinner and think on it a bit more," Seiko said and walked out of the room with the box. Monodramon's stomach growled with the announcement of food.

"Come on guys... Let's go eat. We'll check the other stuff latter," Takato said dejectedly and walked out the room before everyone else.

*****

"Ah so you're back," Ruksasha commented as he watched Sen materialize. Ruksasha sat in one of the leather chairs and looked at the ceiling deep in thought. They were in the room that they made their base from.

"Yes I am, it seems that the players of the game have started to move earlier than we anticipated," Sen said gruffly.

"I know you must had a hard time with the Makino girl but I'm going to have to give you some more bad news," Ruksasha continued. Sen walked over to the window and stared the city while it rained.

"She's left the safety of the temple though not through my efforts. That part was successful at least," Sen continued as he stared out the window.

"The Children of Yllas are on the move," Ruksasha said. Sen frowned but said nothing.

"Should we manipulate them into our plan?" Ruksasha asked.

"I expected that they would notice Ruki but... Fanatics do not make... the most stable business option," Sen answered in a calm measured voice.

"But as fanatics they are rather predictable. I had to destroy one that was spying on the Tamers. I think they believe that Ruki is the essence," Ruksasha continued.

"They think anyone with the blood of the ascended is the 'essence' and they are not predictable," Sen said curtly.

".... I know what they did to your mother Sen but for the moment you have to ignore that and concentrate on the task at hand," Ruksasha continued.

"... Do not presume to lecture me Ruksasha on what I have to do."

"It doesn't matter I suppose, they're just Ekamon and Kumon after all. Ruki should be able to handle them with little difficulty."

"They will eventually start sending in stronger contingents of their cult after her. We should be prepared for that eventuality."

Lightning flashed and light the sky above Shinjuku. A thundering boom was heard, electricity crackled through the air and Sen stood at the window looking out.

"All the more reason to allow them to hire our 'services'," Ruksasha answered.

"... There is no way but to betray her is there?" Sen asked sadly.

"I'm sorry Sen. To save her you must betray her."

"How very ironic."

"I'm not interested in irony... It is a difficult decision..."

"There is no choice... Yes... See to it that we give them a 'goodwill' sample of our services. I believe information on the Tamers and their digimon will be most appropriate."

"I'll go see them.... I'm sorry Sen."

"... I'm going to see my mother."

"Any change in her condition?"

".... No..."


	9. Meeting of the Guilty

Eh hm... I am not trying to insult Christianity in any way. Yes you heard me; I am not trying to insult Christianity in any way. There is a simple Latin prayer put in here called 'Ave Maria' which Sen says. He is a Roman Catholic Christian, one that's lost faith and such, and more over a partial Japanese and German descent.

The essay written in Ruki's journal is a edited version of one written by Alan Taylor. The University of Texas at Arlington. Circa 1996. It is based on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and modified and added a few things by me.

Japanese evolution line names Child-Adult-Perfect-Ultimate.  
American evolution line names Rookie-Champion-Ultimate-Mega.

Translation of Ave Maria

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray for me to the Lord our God. Amen. 

__

You asked me a question years ago,  
And here is the answer at your grave.  
Dying is easy it's living that scares me to death  
I could be so content hearing the sound of your voice...  
But it isn't going to happen is it?

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The droning sound of the machine was maddening. It cheerfully fed information that its charge under its electrical watch was indeed still alive and breathing but nothing else. The rhythmic pulse did not change for the past hour but that mattered little to the only visitor in the room. He sat on a chair and looked at the face of a woman that was once full of life and quiet dignity. It was painful to watch the patient's peaceful calm face; it looked like she was sleeping and would wake up at any time but Sen knew it wasn't so. He didn't really care at this point of time and simply stared at the woman that was once his mother. She was beautiful woman he supposed with flowing brown hair and dark eyes. Those same eyes were lifeless and dull now and possessed nothing of the spark of life that proclaimed she was alert and alive.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

It was past visiting hour for the hospital but Sen didn't really care about that either. He wanted so desperately to reach out and just squeeze her hand reassuringly, just like she used to do when he was upset but the very act was futile. She could not possible feel it nor recognize that her own son was doing it to give her strength. Thus Sen's own strength failed him and left him limp on the chair. Outside the window the wind howled and whistled under the violence of the storm. Rain painted the city to a drab and depressing darkness with flashes of lightning to remind people that light still existed. 

Beep... Beep... Beep...

So there Sen sat, watching and waiting, knowing it was completely futile to do so. Sen hated hospitals, he hated their smell, their feel, and the sounds of muffled moaning and sobbing from dying or catatonic patients. He cursed his now supernatural senses for making him know everything that was going on in this part of the hospital ward. He smelt death; he felt death and heard death all over the place. It permeated the atmosphere and tainted Sen's entire being. All around him were dying people and dying auras waiting to be snuffed out by the dreaded but oh so useful and necessary Death.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Sen noted that Death had taken the patient of room 34, just down the hallway and heard the man groan and choke before his aura simply sputtered out of existence. Sen shuddered as he felt Death did its work and then enter his mother's room where it stopped and looked over his mother's bed. Waiting ever so patiently for her life force to weaken and be snuffed out. Sen felt immensely glad that his mother's life force was as strong as a living person unaffiliated with disease was or sickness was. If losing your soul to a being who promptly ate that soul was something to be thankful about. The body was fine but it was empty and cold to touch without a soul.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Death left the room slowly as if mourning the fact it only took one life tonight from the hospital. Sen let out a breath of relief when it's presence left. He wondered why he kept his mother's body alive? There was no chance in hell he could get her soul back, it was lost, destroyed, gone. Nothing he did would ever return her soul and yet he kept the empty shell of her body alive. Was it to give him some sort of peace of mind that she was still 'alive' in some sense of word?

Beep... Beep... Beep...

It would be so easy to end this farce, this illusion. All you have to do is pull out the cords of the machine from the wall and the body will die. Sen shuddered at his thoughts and felt mildly ill. Occasionally the reasoning of his 'ascended' side would appear and he give out 'advice' that he had no intention of following but how tempting it was. But then what would he tell his little brother at his grave? Sorry but I murdered mom so she won't be coming back to you, don't worry she's in a better place. What place is that? Well her soul is trapped in this immortality, divinity obsessed being that wants to become god or something but I'm sure she's very happy. It's not heaven but hey you can't have everything.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Sen decided it was best not to pursue any further that line of thought. He idly shifted his black trench coat and crossed his arms tiredly. Visiting hours was over hours ago. Except no one in the hospital knew he was in this room and it was far too easy for him to leave if a nurse was about to enter the room. All he had to do was picture where he wanted to go and then just materialize at that place. It cut down on traveling costs at the very least and yet every time Sen used his abilities, the more and more he felt a little bit of him slip away and be replaced by his heritage, his blood, and his divinity. Sen chuckled darkly and wondered how he's priest would react at the choice of words used. The old priest would probably proclaim it blasphemy.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Then again what did it matter? He should have died two years ago but luck or fate or the multitude of other little things that made him survive that cold winter night. The Children of Yllas overlooked him by accident simply because he was at the temple with Kaho. A brief sojourn to the temple to explore the realms of his powers while Ruki was still struggling to trigger her 'ascension'. He didn't want to know what his little brother saw that would drive him to jump out the window of the apartment on the thirtieth floor to escape the cult. His little brother was only six years old at the time and he took his own life rather than be caught by the Children of Yllas. He felt no comfort in the fact that his brother died with his soul intact and relatively 'unharmed'. 

Sen felt the weight of his decisions on his soul or what was left of it. He had surely damned Ruki to the same fate as his mother or perhaps the fate of his little brother if she was lucky enough to have time to commit suicide.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

'Unlikely... She'll fight to the bitter end,' Sen quietly noted. He couldn't imagine Ruki taking her own life, if worse came to worse.

Sen looked into the window and saw his reflection in it. He saw a boy with blonde hair and blue and green eyes stare back without hope. A disenfranchised Christian with a rosary in his left pocket and a small bible in the other who still clung onto the misguided hope that God would forgive him and give everything back. Sen got the rosary out and wrapped around one of his hands loosely in clasped his hands together.

"Confiteor deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Ioanni Baptistae, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus Sanctis, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Ioannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes Sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum," Sen prayed silently. He was different from the normal people of Japan; he lost count of the number of times he had been called a gaijin, an outsider. He was born here in Tokyo and yet he was always an outsider with a strange religion. It was probably because of his blonde hair and strange eyes.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

"Amen," Sen finished. He felt he needed all the prayers he could get, if the saints in heaven bothered to pray for sinners and blasphemers. At least there weren't any Japanese people staring at him and whispering to each other wondering why the strange but handsome boy was muttering in a language no one could understand or why he was muttering and talking to no one.

Was he really that different? Was he even human any more? What did God have to with this? He hadn't been church for almost two years, much less prayed to God. His mother taught him this prayer though he understood what was being said, he didn't really see the point to it. To admit that you have sinned was supposed to make things better some how? He had sinned so many times against so many people that he had lost count. How many times had he convinced some stupid weak willed digimon or person to sign away their lives and souls on that neat dotted line in a contract? And for what have those idiots signed away their lives and souls for? The usual vices of revenge, wealth, fame and occasionally love.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

"God in his heaven... All is not right on Earth;" Sen muttered and got up from his chair. He simply faded into thin air leaving behind a room that housed an empty shell of a woman that once was. He quietly wondered if he would be visiting Ruki like this at the end of this gamble. To look at the face of another who was now an empty shell of a person that once was, simply because it was his own entire damn fault.

*****

Ruki watched the world go through slow motion. She could see the dull white eyes blink with surprise so slowly that Ruki wondered how many times she could punch them before the eyelid closed. She was fast and leapt up so quickly that it was ridiculous. Ruki could have cracked a joke, read a book and cook dinner at the speed, which the ugly thing was moving at. Not that Ruki would take such an unnecessary chance such as that, quick, bloody and perfect, that was plan for the battle. No off the wall stunts, weird moves and such. Quick brutal moves and an end to the entire affair. Move on and have dinner because I'm hungry.

Ruki slammed her foot into the abdomen and punched the jaw of the creature. The head snapped up and the body flew backwards from the force of the blow. The wild swings of the claws harmlessly swished over her head and the creature crashed into a few trees, knocking them to the ground.

"This is too easy..." Ruki muttered. She was completely off guard when something attacked her from behind. She flew forward from the force and skidded along on the ground until she came to a stop in a stream. Another creature from behind attacked her similar to the one she had knocked down. The creature had covered the distance between them so quickly that Ruki didn't expect it.

"Damn," Ruki swore as she got back on her feet quickly to face her new attacker. If Ruki weren't so busy fighting, she would have noted that she was as not as badly injured, as she should be. The attack from behind for all accounts should have broken her back or killed her but it was hard to rationalize such things in the heat of the moment. Ruki was far too busy fighting to realize that she should be severely injured or dead. The attacker bristled and opened its mouth. 

"Sticky Net!" The creature shouted. Ruki came to a conclusion she was fighting a digimon and grimaced. The straight trajectory of the shot was quite easy for to avoid. The ball of white webbing careened towards Ruki who sidestepped the attack. The attack hit the ground behind her and exploded into a messy stream of webbing that stuck her legs to the ground.

"Double damn," Ruki swore and sensed that the other digimon that had been knocked down get up and rush forward for an attack. Ruki smell its stinking breath and hear the whistling of the wind from its charging body from behind. Her feet were stuck in the ground and she couldn't turn around to face the next attack. Ruki felt her body go into autopilot, her instincts screaming and reflexes taking over. Ruki fell to her knees quickly and narrowly avoided the digimon's sharp, grime incrusted claws that whistle past her head. Time still seemed like it was going in slow motion for Ruki and she felt her arm shoot up and grab the digimon's arm. With a quick strong flick, she flipped the airborne digimon and heard a fleshy tearing noise. Ruki's eyes widened when she saw her move rip the digimon's arm out from its shoulder. The digimon screamed in pain as it flew overhead in a new direction from the one it had started, data bled from it's arm socket. It crashed into a bush and lay there in pain. Ruki saw that in her hand was the digimon's arm with data streaming from it, it stained her hand black. The claws looked wickedly sharp and could easily of rend her flesh, the realization of how close she was to dying put things into perspective.

Ruki's trance was broken and she used the arm's claws to cut the webbing at her feet. The other digimon was amazed at had happened and saw what Ruki was doing. It shot another webbing attack but Ruki managed to cut her way through the webbing and jump up into the air. Ruki began to note that her dramatic increase in strength and speed; her jump had taken her up six meters up into the air. The digimon's arm in her left hand dissolved into data, painting her hand and arm black likes thick blood. The scent of data smelled like burning tar, sweat and blood all at the same time. It was fairly noxious but Ruki concentrated at the threat in front of her.

"AHHH!!!!" The fallen digimon continued to scream. It gripped where it's arm was and tried to staunch the bleeding data from its body. Ruki ignored the fallen digimon and charged the one that was still unharmed. The other digimon panicked at the sight of Ruki charging and shot off more of his attacks.

"Sticky Net! Sticky Net! Sticky Net!" The digimon vainly attacked, missing Ruki who swerved side to side avoiding the exploding projectiles that would impede her movement and trap her. Ruki pulled back her fist and then slammed it into the digimon's face. She sent it flying in the air while it began to delete until its data painted the ground it went over. The other digimon white eyes widened and tried to back away from Ruki.

"No... Ah... Please! Spare me!" The other one screamed in fear and stared at Ruki with terror. Ruki eyes flashed with annoyance and glared at the digimon.

"Why the hell should I do that? You attacked me first!" Ruki said in a dangerous low voice. She approached the terrified digimon who gripped its bleeding shoulder where its left arm once was.

"Please! I all ready lost my arm to you! I'm no longer a threat!" The digimon explained.

"... Talk and I'll consider. Why did you attack me!" Ruki demanded.

"You were a lone human! I thought I could take you down and kill you for your food!" The digimon explained. In truth it was lying, it waited for Ruki to drop her defense. If it could not bring back the 'ascended' one, he would injure her enough for the others to grab her. He honestly did not expect the kitsune to realize its strength so early.

"... That's a lie..." Ruki noted. A digimon unable to forage for food? Impossible! Any digimon in the Digital world knew how to find food if it was hungry. How difficult would it be for a digimon to find food on Earth? They were used to foraging, fighting and such. This world was a peaceful paradise compared to the Digital World.

"I'm tell you the truth! Please spare me! I am just a mere Kumon!" The digimon grovelled while it waited for an opportunity to attack Ruki.

"You are also a liar... I don't like liars," Ruki said calmly. Ruki rushed forward as if to give Kumon the killing blow and he closed his eyes. He had failed and now he didn't have an opportunity to make himself useful for Yllas. He closed its eyes for the killing blow was surprised to feel the ground beside him explode with a resounding thud. He careful opened his eyes and saw Ruki's fist make an impact zone right beside him. If he had been at the receiving end of the blow, he would have been immediately deleted. Kumon was petrified with terror but tried to gather his resolve.

"Get out... or the next one I won't miss," Ruki threatened. She purposely missed but was faintly shocked by what she did. She got up and walked away from Kumon without looking back. She looked at her fist and saw that it was uninjured from the blow, despite the fact she punched solid rock and made a dent. Kumon though scared gathered whatever was left of his fanatical loyalty to Yllas and made a final attack on Ruki when her back was turned.

Ruki heard Kumon get up to attack her from behind and reacted by turning around to meet his attack. Ruki never got an opportunity to kill Kumon. Though Ruki could have easily dispatched Kumon something else took him out before Ruki could react. Behind Kumon was a tall looking woman with black hair in a sombre looking kimono. Kumon had a numb look of shock and fell forward. When he hit the ground, he burst into data but it didn't stain the mysterious woman's clothing. The burst however made some of the data hit Ruki who felt it seep into her clothing and drip down her face. Ruki felt the data drip down her face in small rivulets and wiped away from her cheek.

"Who are you?" Ruki said, she backed away from the woman. She backed up into someone else who had some how evaded her senses and jumped forward and spun around to see an old man in an old kimono with an old fashion pipe in his mouth. His had gripped the base and took it out of his mouth to blow out some smoke. Ruki looked around her to see who else and saw six others surrounding her. The people all had the same auras as the ones she had felt at the temple. They all stood and watched Ruki.

Ruki then realized that was she was dirty and her clothing were ripped. Her jeans were missing some pieces and her shirt had various tears in it. She was bleeding from one of her arms and a small cut on her forehead made it known when Ruki wiped one of hands across it to wipe off some sweat. Data was splattered over her clothing and smelt very bad.

"Who are we? Why we're your relatives!" A perky looking young girl a few years younger than Ruki enthusiastically explained. She wore a bright red and blue silk kimono that was more appropriate for festivals than daily wear. She was about Shuichon's age but held a sort of admiring and yet mischievous glint in her eyes when she regarded Ruki. The hair was dyed in outrageous green and was spiked in some areas which clashed terribly with her similarly gaudy kimono despite this the girl had her arms in akimbo and beamed.

"What?"

*****A few moments earlier*****

Renamon watched Rumiko as she ran down the street with a flimsy umbrella, which Renamon had managed to procure. Rumiko's search was in vain but Renamon said nothing to discourage the distraught woman. Rumiko needed the hope and feel that she was doing something to find Ruki. Not surprisingly no one had seen Ruki around Shinjuku but Renamon expected that. The rain was annoying however and was soaking Renamon's fur but the discomfort of wet fur mattered little to Renamon. She was used to hardship and bore the rain with calm and patience, knowing fully well that it had to end some time.

Rumiko stopped at a corner and asked a man whether he had seen Ruki. Rumiko took out a picture and showed the man but he shook his head. Crushed but yet stubborn Rumiko ran down the street with the umbrella to ask another person. This time a young boy, who shrugged at Rumiko's questions.

"Ruki where are you?" Renamon asked. She then felt something that made her fur stand on end and could have sworn she felt Ruki's mind. It was so far off and distant that Renamon was unsure, all she could tell was that Ruki was in trouble and there was nothing Renamon could do about it.

'Ruki!' Renamon thought and tried to send her thoughts to Ruki but failed miserably. The tenuous connection was lost again and Renamon couldn't feel Ruki's familiar presence. The same strange feeling of emptiness returned after Ruki's soul presence disappeared. Renamon felt strangely cold and lonely but bore the loss quietly. She would find Ruki and that was it but she had to admit it hurt Renamon to a certain extent that there were still some things that Ruki hid away from her. They were partners and yet Ruki still deemed unnecessary to tell Renamon what she was going to do.

A strong wind blew and knocked the umbrella out of Rumiko's hand. It flew up into the air and Renamon jumped up to grab it. After grabbing it she jumped down to the street startling many people who were shocked to see a soaking wet digimon with an umbrella. Renamon frowned when she saw the sorry state that the umbrella was in, the descent down had caused the wind to push upwards on the umbrella and break apart some of the pieces.

"Sorry... Do you want another umbrella?" Renamon asked annoyed with herself but kept it from showing on her face or voice. Rumiko was getting soaked by the rain and hugged herself to keep warm. Renamon looked at Rumiko with concern.

"Yes... Then we can continue to look for Ruki," Rumiko said. Her teeth chattered from the wetness and cold. A little cold was not going to stop Rumiko from looking for her daughter. Renamon looked at Rumiko with concern.

"I think that's enough searching actually... You are going to get sick, we should return home," Renamon said. There was nothing they could both do to look for Ruki. Ruki was too far away and they hadn't a clue where she was.

"Are so willing to abandon her! You're her partner!" Rumiko hissed. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but Renamon managed to guide Rumiko to a drier spot. People around them ignored the two hoping that the digimon would not notice them or do anything. 

Whether it was from the cold or her frustration Renamon didn't quite know but she had never heard Rumiko so dejected and embittered. Renamon understood how she felt but getting ill when they all knew that Ruki was no longer in the city was downright stupid and unnecessary.

"I am well aware I'm her partner, but there is nothing I can do for Ruki right now. And there is nothing right now you can do for her either. She's not in Tokyo anywhere," Renamon explained tersely. Rumiko looked at the raining streets and remained quiet for a moment.

"I don't care. I'm going to look for her," Rumiko stated. Renamon looked at Rumiko in disbelief. Stubbornness seemed to be an innate characteristic within the Makino family. No matter what you do they go off on their own merry little way even if there's a good chance it'll get you killed.

"And Ruki says you can't possible be related to her," Renamon muttered. Rumiko blinked and looked at Renamon curiously. Renamon didn't wait for Rumiko to open her mouth. She grabbed a spare umbrella from a store stall and swept Rumiko off her feet into her arms. She put the umbrella into Rumiko's arms.

"We are returning back... And I don't want to hear any complaints," Renamon continued. She held Rumiko tight and ran into the rain. They headed back home and Renamon made it a point to ignore Rumiko's protests.

"You can't do this! We still haven't checked certain parts of the city! Ruki might have come back!" Rumiko protested. It would have sounded even more convincing if Rumiko didn't cough. The rain splattered against Rumiko and she immediately opened the umbrella to keep dry. The umbrella also covered Renamon's head a bit but didn't do much for the rest of her body. Renamon leapt up into the air and landed on a wall and ran along it to avoid people and traffic.

"She's ... not... here," Renamon said through gritted teeth. Ruki was nowhere near Tokyo, she far away and in danger and there was nothing Renamon could do about it. It tore through her heart like a knife and Renamon felt the knife twist even more with the emptiness she felt. How could Rumiko understand the connection between her and Ruki? The connection that they both possessed and trusted but could not explain. It wasn't simply because they were friends and partners but more. Something so much more that Renamon could only scratch the surface of it all.

The Makino house was only a few more blocks ahead and Renamon could hear the sound of people eating in the dining room. Many people were in dining room and Renamon could sense Guilmon, Terriermon, MarineAngemon and Monodramon's presence in the room. They were getting closer now and with one mighty leap with Rumiko in her arms, Renamon landed in the garden on both her feet.

"Hey! Looks whose back!" Hirokazu called out as he looked out the hallway and saw Rumiko and Renamon trudge in from the rain. Renamon stood in the hallway with her fur sticking all over the place, it was going to take hours to dry her fur out.

"Do you have a hair dryer and towel somewhere?" Renamon asked. She put Rumiko down on to her feet and waited for an answer. Rumiko shivered with the cold and put the umbrella down. They were dripping with water as they stood in the hallway. Seiko appeared with two large towels and a hair dryer in hand.

"Here you go, you two. Get dried up and eat up," Seiko said and looked at her thoroughly miserable daughter. Rumiko was sulking as she accepted the towel to dry off her hair.

"Did you find anything?" Takato asked in a strangely peevish voice. He was busy skewering his food with his chopsticks in a curious manner and looked at it as if blaming it for something. It was highly unusual for Takato to be moping but Renamon decided the best course of action was to let Takato be. Subtlety was something Renamon was good at.

"Ah, just ignore him. He's mad because a brilliant plan of his got trashed," Terriermon said with his mouth full. Obviously however this was hardly the case of certain individuals such as Terriermon. Takato gripped his chopsticks a bit harder and concentrated stabbing his food.

"No, we didn't find anything," Renamon answered, she changed to topic immediately. She picked up a blanket and began to dry herself. Ryou ate his food in silence and watched Monodramon do his traditional blazing fast 'stuffing his face' at dinner mode. It roughly went like this:

See drink. Guzzle drink. See rice. Shovel rice. See fish. Skewer fish. Devour Fish. See food on plate. Skewer food. Shovel food. Steal Ryou's drink. Guzzle stolen drink.

"BURRP!... That was good!" Monodramon proclaimed.

Done.

Ryou sighed and took his cup away from Monodramon to get it refilled with milk. He was glad that there wasn't any alcohol for Monodramon to drink on the table. His father often got quite angry when Monodramon stole his beer and left the table slightly sloshed. Alcohol and Monodramon simply did not mix well.

MarineAngemon stared at Monodramon in slight trepidation. He didn't even see Monodramon chew his food at all.

"Penpa... Pi pape pape?" MarineAngemon asked in his nonsensical language. MarineAngemon looked at Monodramon curiously as he lay on the ground with his arms behind his heads.

"No... That doesn't look safe or normal at all," Kenta answered his partner's question. With the sole exception of Monodramon and Takato, who was far too busy thinking, ate quietly and with less fanfare.

"Come on Takato! Eat. You're a pretty smart guy after all. I'm sure we'll find a way to find Ruki," Jen said in a cheering voice though part him really wanted Takato's plan for tracking to work. The boy didn't mope often but sometimes when things generally decided to become difficult he had tendency of going a little dark before bouncing back. Usually. But things weren't going as usual since their adventure in the Digital world. It never occurred to Jen, until a month after the adventure, how much they really had changed. 

Once when Jen had walked through the park he saw a pair of little kids playing. They were battling pretending to be digimon and were playing around with such carefree energy that Jen found himself sick to the pit of his stomach. A sort of reminder that Jen, only a scant year ago, would probably done the same thing without realizing the implication of it all.

"I, the great Leomon, shall defeat you!" A kid in tried to roar but ended coughing for his effort. His other friend frowned as if he had been deprived from choosing a 'cool' digimon to be.

"Oh yeah! Well take this! I am the great Beelzebumon! DEATH SLINGER!" The other boy countered maliciously and pantomimed bringing the gun up to bear. He pointed the imaginary gun and shot a few times at his friend.

"Hey that's not fair! A mega versus an adult? That's hardly fair!" The other complained annoyed. He glared at his friend who simply shrugged.

"Hey life's unfair! Now die!" The boy pulled back his fist and lightly hit the other in the stomach smirking. The other boy pretended to be in excruciating pain and fell to the ground groaning and moaning in a comical manner but Jen wasn't laughing. Jen distinctly remembered standing close by watching the two play and felt numb.

"AHH!! The great Leomon, once again, dies another senselessly useless death! Just like the TV show... Oh the tragedy," the boy said in a pretend voice of exaggerated grief. He stopped rolling on the ground and remained still for a moment. The boy pretending to 'Beelzebumon' tried not laugh out loud and carried on with his lines like an actor trying not to choke on a funny scene.

"I am victorious! I am the most powerful digimon in the Digital World! Nothing can stop me!" The boy raised his arms in victory while his friend stood up and started to laugh. Soon the other one started to laugh and they talked but Jen couldn't hear their conversation. Jen walked away from the two boys, angry, disappointed and other feelings clouded his weary mind. Victory, death and power that was in everything that Jen saw and realized couldn't really avoid. Ignorance is bliss as they say and on that day Jen really wished he hadn't seen those two boys playing in the park. It seemed to cheapen the death of Leomon and the repentance of Impmon in so many ways.

"Hey Jen! Don't space on me!" Terriermon said as he poked his partner out of a daze. Jen was jolted out of his funk and looked down at Terriermon.

"Don't mind me. I guess I'm just thinking about this all a bit too much," Jen said when he looked at Terriermon's baffled face. Takato shifted and stared at his plate thinking.

"... I guess you're right though. I'm completely stumped," Takato said and began to slowly eat the food in front of him. It had gone cold but Takato didn't complain, after all he stabbed at his food when he should have been eating it. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more it seemed necessary to acquire Abaddon's services. It was not a prospect that Takato looked forward to and he inwardly bristle. Just how much information did Abaddon know about the Ruki and them? It seemed quite obvious he knew what was going on.

Renamon during this time had taken the hairdryer and towel and disappeared into thin air to dry off in private. Rumiko walked to her room to get change and Seiko began to eat her dinner. The dinner table began rather deathly silent as they all began to eat again, even Kenta and Hirokazu was silent. Which generally meant something was going to happen. Ruki's D-ark was neatly laying by Jen's side when it went off for no reason. The loud beeps startled Takato who dropped his soup bowl on the table and Jen grabbed Ruki's D-ark to see what was wrong with it.

"What the?!" Jen said startled. In his other hand was a bowl of rice and the other was Ruki's D-ark. The D-ark went into a digimon analyser mode and began to show a fuzzy image of something quite ugly.

The noise brought Renamon into the room who materialized with her fur half dried and mussed up and chaotic. She looked like she had been put through the dry cleaners and sent back half done. Rumiko charged into the dinner room at the sound of the beeping in her bath robe and everyone crowded around Jen. Jen felt crushed at the number people peering over his shoulders and felt the claustrophobia get to him. The image of the ugly digimon caused Jen to shudder for a moment at the sight of the digimon.

It stood on gangly insect legs, thinly muscled and it's body was a bright red color with clawed hands that seemed to drip with green ooze of some sort. The face was no less hideous, sharp fangs and heavy jowl marked it's feature with white eyes that shined with malice. Jen noted that Renamon was in the room with them and his D-ark wasn't going off, which meant only one thing.

"Kumon... Child... Viral... Attack: Sticky Net... Ruki must be fighting this thing!" Jen commented as he looked at the D-ark. A feeling of powerlessness overcame him and he started to feel made that there was nothing that he could do to help Ruki. Renamon felt the same and stretched the range of her connection to sense Ruki's condition. She felt nothing and felt very worried but didn't show it.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Takato asked. He felt angry and powerless. The D-ark blinked out the information and the D-ark stopped beeping. The silence was crushing and Takato's question hung in the air like a miasma. Takato felt like he was failing again, he was failing to keep his friends together and alive. If Ruki was dead right at this moment what would he say to Juri?

Ryou looked at the D-ark and felt his hand finger Ruksasha's business card.

'Now Mr. Akiyama please listen to me for the moment. Though you may not want the information you may want to consider my service in the future. If you need me please rip up the business card and call my name,' Ryou remembered Ruksasha's exact words. There was something they could do but dealing with what seemed like the enemy was something that Ryou would like to avoid but what choice did they have? A digimon attacking Ruki without Renamon equalled one dead Tamer.

"Maybe the digimon isn't attacking her. There's an off chance that the digimon is peaceful," Takato said trying to grasp at straws to calm himself. Ryou looked at Takato with a sad look.

"If it's a newly bio-emerged digimon I highly doubt that it's going to be friendly..." Ryou commented and debated what to do.

"So all we can do is sat on our fanny and hope, in a million to one chance, that Ruki can beat the crap out of this digimon or do a marginally intelligent move and run away?" Hirokazu said hotly. He did not like where this conversation was heading at all.

"... We could hire Devil's Advocate Unlimited to do some work!" Kenta suggested. MarineAngemon flitted here and there in agitation.

"... That or leave Ruki be..." Renamon said in a voice. She sank down to her knees and concentrated on her connection with Ruki to try and discern what was going on. A sharp pain and an image of whistling claws over Ruki's head was sensed and then Renamon could see and feel no more. Renamon grimaced at the pain and frowned. The look of alarm was noticed by Ryou.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked.

"Ruki's been hurt a bit... She's being attacked..." Renamon said. Frustration spilled and she felt like shouting at Ruki to runaway from the battle but knew it was futile. 

Dinner was disrupted. Scattered remnants of forgotten food and drink were spilled over the table carelessly by the movement of the diners. People began to argue and shout at each other taking sides of two choices, peace had been broken and they began to get angry. Seiko sat at the table listening into the conversation and stared at the lacquered wood box that she had given to Ruki. Seiko hands trembled ever so slightly at the dire news that she heard and opened the box to see it's content. A small black journal was laying neatly in a corner of the box and Seiko reached over to open it. It landed a single page where a essay was written by Ruki's hands in black ink. She read it with interest trying to drown out the arguing of the others. Perhaps in this book was a small morsel of sanity and calm in the Makino family.

Guilt...

'What is your existence worth? And if it is worthless, why are you here? Your guilt, I see, causes you to tarry in your existence. With your death you have to expiate it.'

Heracleitus successfully overcame this guilt by denying absolute "being" in favor of an eternal "becoming." 

While "life itself is essentially appropriation, injury, overpowering of what is alien and weaker, suppression, hardness, imposition of one's own forms, incorporation and at least, at its mildest, exploitation". Morality and society demand the suppression of this nature, thus creating guilt, the sense that one's natural state of becoming (which wills these things) is "evil." How can one "deal" with this guilt? The history of humanity can be described as a chronicle of the various answers to that question: putting out one's eyes and wandering blindly from Thebes, philosophy, Hell, dying on the cross, confession, penance, self-flagellation, purgatory, the "justice" system, psychotherapy, even revenge. All of these are attempts to reconcile human nature with the moral and social restrictions placed upon it.  
  
The answer to this dilemma is to propose that "life" is fundamentally beyond good and evil. Moral interpretations are always secondary. What one must do is to completely embrace life in its becoming, and this means all of life, beautiful and ugly alike--love and hate, affection and violence, kindness and injury. All of these are manifestations of the will to power, which is life itself. 

Life simply is will to power.

Embracing rather than negating life (as society and morality seek to do) is the key to ending the spirit of revenge (resentment) created by guilt. 

The choice for is very simple. Negating life, saying "no" to instinct and the will to power, leads to guilt, the lessening of humanity, and nihilism. Saying "yes" to the will to power is better, even if it means embracing various becomings that we have been socially and morally trained to read as "negative." What haunts humanity is its hatred of itself, and it is this "guilt" which, more than anything else, must be overcome.

Seiko blinked at the complicated essay written within the journal. At the very bottom written in ink that was blue and newer than the faded black was a quote. It looked like was hastily scrawled at the bottom of the essay like an afterthought of much searching and realization. It was made a year ago when Ruki was still itinerant Tamer who stalked the streets of Shinjuku looking for fights.

'Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.'   
May 1, 2004. 

Seiko couldn't read any more to the journal and shut it closed. The others were still arguing and Seiko simply got up.

"Will everyone, just SHUT UP!!!" Seiko said at the arguing mass of people in front of her. They all stopped arguing and became quiet. Rumiko looked at her mother who was now deadly calm and to the point. It was first time Seiko had to shout in a very long time and it felt like a long await relief.

"There is only two choices here... You either get Abaddon's help or do nothing and try it on your own... Now what's going to be your choice?" Seiko asked pointedly.

*****

It became quite obvious that fanatics were not very big when it came to greeting unexpected guests. Then again breaking into their temple without anyone knowing it and then demanding to see Yllas generally had that effect on the cultists. Luckily the cult had once perused the services of Devils Advocate Unlimited once and found it satisfactory. Ruksasha sighed as he waited in a stone carved room supported by a overly strong buttress which had detailed, a bit too detailed for Ruksasha's taste, of various sacrifices. The horrifying and realistic image of Yllas eating the souls of 'ascended' ones unsettled his stomach when noticed that the most recent carvings held Sen's mother's face on it.

'I hate this... But I volunteered so I shouldn't complain," Ruksasha thought to himself. He waited for a few more moments until a heavy set of double doors opened noiselessly and revealed a robed figure with a wooden mask. It didn't take much effort for Ruksasha to realize that it was human in the garb of Yllas Chosen Children.

"Enter the terrible gaze of Yllas, heathen. Our master deems it worthy to see you after all..." The cultist said in a sneering voice and awe. Ruksasha probably imagined that the cultist probably never seen his 'master' before and was awed that heathen was allowed to see the 'master' and not him. Ruksasha cautiously walked towards the door with his senses stretched to the max on the look out for nasty surprises and attacks but he sensed nothing. Paranoia was however a good point in the mind of Ruksasha and he spent extra time observing the physical habit of the obviously impatient cultist. The way he tapped his feet and clenched his fist and jaw. Yup, this cultist is pretty pissed off that the heathen gets to see the 'master' yet he is unworthy to gaze upon such 'perfection'. Ruksasha killed the urge to laugh and past the doors into another room.

The room was a small room with eight cultists, both human and digimon, who were praying and meditating. 

"Yllas ak narb illas! Torng buin gehanna," the cultists droned in different accents and pronunciations. It was obvious that this was a small cell that hadn't really been recruiting for more devotees.

'Not surprising seeing that Yllas's teachings usually drive the people insane or kills them in the first place,' Ruksasha thought to himself as he walked into the room and towards another door at the end of the room in front of the cultists. Without waiting Ruksasha threw open the doors, startling the cultists who hissed with disbelief at the sacrilege the heathen was performing. How dare he entire the gaze of the Yllas without the proper ceremony and sacrifice? Ruksasha ignored the glares of the others and entered the room before the doors slam shut. He was completely alone in the darkness of the room but in front of him a blue flame that flickered. The flame itself light nothing in the room and made everything around Ruksasha pitch black.

"Who dares enters the munificent sight of Yllas? Behold Yllas's terrible being and tremble!" A booming voice asked, it seemed to echo in the room and Ruksasha felt completely unimpressed.

'I wonder if Yllas is possible related to Zhuqiaomon? Because that's the exact same thing he told Sen and me when we made a deal to help get through the digital impasse net,' Ruksasha wondered and gave up. He just needed to ignore the fact that Yllas always spoke in third person.

"It is Ruksasha... It has been three years since we've met," Ruksasha said politely. It was bet to get this done quickly but Ruksasha preferred to draw out the conversation to see how his clients answered and reacted.

"... Ah yes... Yllas remembers you well. The heathen Ruksashamon, who offered his services to Yllas's cause," the blue flame mused.

"... For a price, if you remember that and I am called Ruksasha...," Ruksasha answered. He really hated when people insisted on calling him Ruksashamon. He was not data; he was real and living. He would become an 'ascended' like Sen as soon as he found out how. Then he would become a true Ruksasha and no one could deny his existence and try to delete him with a paltry program.

"Silence! I have no demand of your services heathen! You are beneath Yllas's notice," the blue flame arrogantly and flared a bit.

"I see... Though it seems that you're servants are failing to get any information on the Tamers. They're quite a strong bunch, heard that they all Matrix digivolved as one being with their digimon and became as powerful as an Ultimate if not a little more so...." Ruksasha let his announcement hang in the air as he reached for a cigar. There were some benefits of being data he had to admit. He was addicted to nicotine but it didn't give any sort of health problems from chain-smoking cigars. With a casual flick of his wrist Ruksasha got out his silver lighter and lit his cigar for a smoke.

Yllas remained silent as if pondering whether to blast Ruksasha away for his impertinence or consider the implications of Ruksasha's information. The embers from Ruksasha's cigar glowed in the darkness like a red hot coal and the smoke idly curled in the air.

"What do you want?" Yllas demanded. Ruksasha could only smile innocently and look at the blue flame directly.

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again... It's not what I want... It's what you want."


	10. War on the Innocent

Masahiko - little half-brother of Juri.

Onee-chan literally 'dear sister' or older sister

Translation of the Card Captor Sakura song 'Catch You Catch Me' song can be found at www.animelyrics.com_   
_And yes it is a very sugary sweet song. You have to listen to it.

****

Pacta sunt servanda Pacts should be respected

Note that this chapter is slightly dark. I actually made a few sneaky villains.

Mein Gott - German. Literally 'My God'

__

In all wars  
The innocent suffer.  
Some more than others.

Janyuu was less than happy. He normally regarded himself as a relatively nice person; competent computer programmer and a good father but the fact his wife had thrown his things out of their bedroom and into the living room was something that irked him. His son and daughters weren't exactly helping with their whining as their pregnant and slightly insane mother began reorganizing their rooms to make room for their future siblings. Shuichon was taking everything in as exciting while Rinchei and Jaarin just groaned.

"I'm going to pick up dinner at Paolin," Janyuu said after he piled his clothing in a corner of the living room. It looked like he would sleep on the coach until Mayumi calmed down. The living room was all ready spacious to begin with but now looked rather cramped and crowded. Lopmon was in a corner shuddering uncontrollably at the thought of more young children in the apartment. It was stark contrast to Shuichon's enthusiasm for her younger brothers or sisters.

"Then go all ready!!!" Mayumi shouted from Rinchei's room. Rinchei looked at his father with pleading eyes.

"Why does Jen get to keep his room and I have to get the alcove?" Rinchei asked annoyed. His mouth was formed into a thin line, unimpressed and rather angry.

"Do really want to shack up in the same bedroom with Terriermon?" Janyuu asked his eldest son. Rinchei seemed to take the words to heart and made a thoughtful face.

"No... I guess not," Rinchei slowly answered. He sighed and went into his room to transfer more of his stuff into the alcove. Janyuu got on his coat and looked out the window from where he was standing. It was raining hard and he saw lightning flashing occasionally. Without missing a beat he got out the door of the apartment and headed downstairs to his car. He got in and drove out to Paolin restaurant to pick up dinner for the entire family.

It was short drive and Janyuu arrived at Paolin without difficulty. Entering the restaurant he was greeted by the familiar sight of the lobby. Janyuu was mildly surprised to notice Yamaki standing in the lobby picking up a few bags of Chinese food with Reika and his young son, Katsuyo in her arms.

"I'm telling you Reika he hates carrots!" Yamaki argued with his wife. Katsuyo, as if understanding what his father was saying, vigorously nodded to try and convince his mother.

"Just because you hate carrots, does not mean our son hates carrots," Reika argued back, clearly not believing her husband Yamaki. Her son seemed to look defeated at that moment and gave his mother a piteous look. If Janyuu hadn't have known that Katsuyo was only three months old, he would have sworn that the boy was understanding what his parents were talking about. The brown haired, blue eye boy looked a lot like Yamaki but had rather tame and manageable hair compared to the father.

"That's what you said last time when he threw the carrot mush in my face," Yamaki growled lightly annoyed. Reika smirked and nuzzled her son lightly.

"That's because he knows you keep on forgetting to tell him his bedtime story," Reika said teasingly. 

"Then why don't you feed him the carrots next time?" Yamaki muttered. Yamaki rolled his eyes and noticed Janyuu standing in the lobby looking at them.

"Janyuu? I didn't notice you there. How are you doing?" Yamaki asked in a relieved voice.

"I'm doing fine. How are you doing?" Janyuu asked as he approached the newly made family. He stopped at the desk and let the man behind the counter reach back for some bags of Chinese food. The name Lee was neatly written on some of the bags.

"I'm doing fine. Reika's father has finally put away the shotguns," Yamaki said. He sounded very relieved as if the sword hanging over his head was completely gone. Reika could giggle slightly at the memory of it all.

"Well at least you can say that you literally did have 'shotgun' marriage," Janyuu said trying to keep a straight face.

"What are you talking about? You pointed the damn shotgun at me as well," Yamaki said annoyed. Yamaki sighed internally and remembered all to well what happened on that day when Reika dropped the bomb about her being pregnant, three months after the D-Reaper incident. Apparently her father was not very happy to learn about this and came to his apartment with a loaded shotgun and forced Yamaki to marry Reika. It wasn't really forced, since Yamaki did want to marry Reika but having a maniac wave a shotgun at you tends to put off the mood.

"Well her father did threaten to force the best man to marry Reika if you ran away and I did give you a choice in the matter," Janyuu said helpfully.

"What kind of choice did I have there? You, the best man, pulled a shotgun out and threatened to shatter my kneecaps if I tried to runaway! It was that or marry in perfect health, which choice would you think I would choose?" Yamaki said indignantly.

"Well you did try to get out the window and leave her standing at the altar," Janyuu pointed out.

"What! You were actually going to do that to me?!" Reika said in a shocked voice. Janyuu felt like smacking his head, he forgot entirely that he promised Yamaki never to mention it. Yamaki made a strangled noise, which Katsuyo imitated with glee and giggled at the sight of his father's frustration. Janyuu picked up the bags of Chinese food and paid the cashier for it.

"You were actually planning to leave me at the altar?" Reika asked in a now neutral voice demanding an answer. She gave a look to Yamaki that Janyuu wondered if only wives learned upon marriage. Yamaki was flustered and tried to think of a way out of the situation.

'Looks like I better go and save the day,' Janyuu thought.

"Um... Say why don't you come home and have dinner with my family? There's enough food for everyone to share," Janyuu said diverting the impending argument. Not one to miss the train, Yamaki jumped at the change of subject.

"Of course. Are you sure your wife won't mind?" Yamaki asked while Reika glared at him.

"Actually that's why I'm inviting you to dinner... My wife's pregnant again and blames me for it," Janyuu explained with a nervous laugh. Reika and Yamaki looked at Janyuu with shock.

"Pregnant again?... But Janyuu you have four children all ready," Yamaki said, there was a sort of look of disbelief on Yamaki's face. And after a moment's thought Yamaki shuddered at the idea of having so many children. Katsuyo seemed to have caught his father's reaction and seemed to be attempting to glare at him. Janyuu blinked and looked at Reika.

"Just how smart is this kid? He looks like he can understand what we're saying," Janyuu asked Reika. Reika smiled and shrug.

"I have no idea but he's smarter than his father is sometimes. Congratulations on your future additions to your family... You know Mitsuo I wouldn't mind having another child one of these days," Reika said teasingly. The undisguised look of horror on Yamaki's face was something to remember. Janyuu felt like laughing, apparently the younger man was still completely uncomfortable with the idea of children and taking care of them.

"Let's just have one child. I can deal with Katsuyo but I think I'd go insane if I have to deal with more children," Yamaki explained soothingly to Reika. He was trying to convince her that having more children was not a desirable thing and glared back at his son Katsuyo. The boy had not yet mastered the finer art of the Yamaki death glare and had to surrender to his father's superior usage and knowledge. The boy became somewhat sulky and looked down at the ground. Apparently Reika's father thought having more children was a wonderful thing.

"If you have a girl, I'll give you the shotgun to protect her," Mr. Ootori promised when he heard his daughter thought about having another child. Yamaki couldn't help but wonder if he could get Mr. Ootori arrested for improper storage of firearms and uttering death threats or any multitude of firearm offences. He quickly gave up on the idea; Reika would kill him if she ever found out that Yamaki sent her father to jail.

"I might consider just having one child if you tell me why you were going to leave me at the altar," Reika said smiling. She gave a sort of look that said, 'if it's a stupid reason I'm going to make you eat carrots for the entire month and I know how much you despise carrots'. Yamaki didn't want to consider what other tortures Reika might inflict and answered truthfully.

"You're father had a shotgun at the wedding for god's sake! I happen to like being alive and whole," Yamaki explained.

"Well let's go to my apartment and have dinner together," Janyuu said and began walking out of Paolin's lobby. He didn't want to wait up for the three. He had to get home and feed his children. Besides egg fuumai in spicy black bean sauce was best served hot rather than cold.

"And to deflect any anger your wife has on getting her pregnant," Yamaki smirked. He carried the Chinese food he bought and Reika carrying Katsuyo followed him.

"... Yes that too."

Further away from thoughts of a happy dinner plan and close by to the hustle and bustle of an industrious mother and children. Outside where the wind howled and the rain fell; a hooded figure looked up at the large apartment building in front of him. The tall building that housed the Lee family in one of its many apartments, unsuspecting and, most of all, inadequately protected. It was going to be an easy job for him. The child Tamer and her family would not live past this night. So vowed the 'Faithful'.

*****

It was cold. It was wet. So why the hell did he decide that walking in the rain was a good idea? Sen wandered around in the rain going who knows where because he wanted some time to himself. Visiting his mother had caused a significant amount depression and Sen found that he was forcing himself to listen to bright happy music or suffer the consequences of too much angst. He was currently listening 'Catch you, Catch me' from some sappy shoujo magical girl show whose name he didn't bother to remember. On the bright side it was the type of music that reminded him of slightly happier things, unfortunately the song bordered on something called 'diabetically unhealthy' if listened to for too long. It was just that sugary and sweet.

(translated from Japanese and found at www.animelyrics.com)

I want to see you, but I can't... How sad, these feelings...  
I can't say it, but I want to.  
I just keep letting my chance slip by.

But still (But still) But still (But still)  
Together, let's spread our wings and  
marathon across the sky; I want our dreams to be in unison

Hey look!  
Catch You Catch You Catch Me Catch Me Wait up!  
Look this way and say you like me.  
Yeah! Nice to Meet You Good to See You Surely!

My thoughts will  
fly, fly, fly into your heart!  
They - will - not - get - lost!

Sometimes, my batteries just run dry.   
But with your smile,   
they're always fully charged, ready to explode

"Gah!... Mein Gott! Why am I listening to this crap?!" Sen said as he walked in the rain. He turned off the CD player, removed his earphones and let blessed silence fill the air. The rain should have been soaking his clothes wet but using a minor spell he knew no raindrops landed on him and wreck his CD player as he walked. He was completely dry and very depressed.

'Why the hell should I care? Ruksasha has all ready gone to see Yllas and offer our services. How ironic, I'm helping the murderer of my mother and brother achieve what he was always wanted,' Sen thought bitterly to himself. He had forced himself to remember that there was a reason for it all, Yllas had to 'die' and that was what he was trying to achieve. It was becoming quite apparent that Yllas had no idea the amount of trouble that it was going to get itself into when it tried to devour Ruki's essence. He noted with a twisted smile that Yllas was going to be in for the fight of its life when it did finally capture Ruki. It was not a matter of if it did; it was a matter of when. No one could run from Yllas forever but they can sure as hell try.

Sen looked around to see where he was. He saw in the distance the Katou family bar. The street was empty and so no one noticed him standing in the rain. If anyone had been observing him, they would notice that despite standing in the rain with no visible protection against the elements, he was completely dry and warm. Sen sensed something innately wrong in the entire place. Something was amiss and he spread his senses around to pin point what it exactly was. It seemed to be originating from the Katou family's bar. Sen melded into the shadows and approached carefully. It seemed that Ruksasha's negotiation for a contract had proved successful, or Yllas killed him and used the information provided to do a pre-emptive strike. In either case, this was a good opportunity to try and acquire some 'favors'.

It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights for Juri. The rain was pouring like a tempest and the bar was unusually empty as many people opted to stay home rather than visit bars. Culumon played with Masahiko as they ran around the conspicuously empty bar. Their laughter was jarring in the silence and Juri sighed. There were only two old male customers who huddled in one corner with their drinks. They were regulars and they didn't seem to be in the mood to order anything. Juri's father was busy with skillet and cooking some dinner for Masahiko and Juri. All in all a nice rainy, if perhaps boring night. No slurred talks of drunks, strange tales or claims about UFO's in the skies or anything marginally interesting. Just silence and a song that Juri was getting sick and tired of. She idly picked up a cleaned glass and towel to dry it. Hoping that it would get her mind off the song but it didn't really work.

__

High, higher than the sun  
You shoot me from a gun  
I need you to elevate me here  
As corner of your lips  
Is the orbit of your hips  
Eclipse, you elevate my soul

I've lost all self-control  
Been living like a mole  
Now going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

A star lit up like a cigar  
Strung out like a guitar  
Maybe you could educate my mind  
Explain all these controls  
I can't sing but I've got soul  
The goal is elevation

She just couldn't get that song out of her head. She didn't understand any of the words, though she knew it was English, and it kept on repeating over and over again. It was the type of catchy song that doesn't leave your head until something else happens.

"Juri! Juri!" Culumon cutely said and smiled. He jumped up and landed on Juri's shoulder comfortably leaving Masahiko on the ground looking up. Nothing really changed much about Culumon, still fun loving and kind.

"What is it?" Juri asked smiling lightly. Masahiko looked up at Culumon waiting patiently for him to start playing with him again.

"Are there any cream puffs? Culu?" Culumon asked. His eyes widened with expectation and tried to look even cuter, if that was physically possible. Juri laughed and shook her head.

"Sorry Culumon. We don't have any cream puffs left over. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for some and besides it's almost dinner soon," Juri explained. Culumon's ears seemed to droop in disappointment for a moment before perking up with a smile.

"Okay, culu. Remember you promised!" Culumon said and jumped off Juri's shoulder. Masahiko gave chase after Culumon with glee and started laughing. They ran upstairs to their room without a care in the world and closed the door. The sounds of pounding feet could be heard and then silence.

Juri blinked for a moment at the silence above. One moment they were running around like maniacs making so much noise, now they were silent as the dead. Juri put down a glass she was drying and approached the stair well baffled. She wondered what could have possible made the two become so quiet.

"Hey can we have another sake over here?" A male customer called out to Juri. Juri did as she told and went behind the bar to get another bottle out but the silence upstairs began to stretch a bit too long. She walked over the table and set the bottle of sake down for the two customers. The silence still stretched and nothing could be heard from upstairs.

Juri's father stopped cooking and listened. His brow knitted with curiosity and momentarily forgot his cooking. Looking at the ceiling as if trying to look through the walls with miraculous powers of x-ray vision, he wondered what had happen. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds until even the two regular customers despite their lack of sobriety noticed the sudden departure noise of Masahiko and Culumon. They all started to get worried.

"What happened?" The patron asked confused. He stopped and strained his ears to hear something. Juri's father got out of the cooking area, forgetting everything about the skillet. The music in Juri's head still kept on playing over and over again.

__

A mole, Living in a hole  
Digging up my soul  
Going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

Love, lift me out of these blues  
Won't you tell me something true  
I believe in you

A mole, living in a hole  
Digging up my soul  
Going down, excavation  
I and I in the sky  
You make me feel like I can fly  
So high, elevation

"AHHHHH!!!!" Masahiko screamed from up the stairs. The crashing of glass upstairs could be heard and Juri's mother ran out from the back storage area. Juri and her father jumped up in surprise at the sound. Juri stood in shock and her widened. The two customers knocked over their sake cups on the floor with a crash and Juri's father jumped up. He turned around and grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter without a second thought.

"Juri stay right here!" He barked and ran up the stairs. Juri ran and waited at the stairwell as her father ran up.

"Be careful! Juri come over here," Juri's mother pleaded. Juri didn't listen to her mother and looked up the darken stairs where her father ran up. Masahiko's cries could still be heard and the heavy footfalls of her father could still be heard as he ran up. Juri couldn't take it anymore and ran upstairs to the bedroom. She ignored her mother's pleas to stay downstairs.

"ARGGHH!!" A scream of pain crashed through the air and Juri was almost knocked over by the body of her father who went flying backwards after he threw open the bedroom door where Juri and Masahiko shared. Her father had deep gashes in his arm where she could see three deep separate claw marks that bleed freely with red blood. He tumbled down the stairs, all the way to the bottom and she could hear her mother scream in horror. 

"I'm calling the police and ambulance! Hold still dear," Juri's mother said. The two male customers downstairs moved to help Mr. Katou. Juri continued upstairs to her room as quietly as possible.

Juri looked into her room and saw that there were cobwebs with strands as thick as her fist all over the room. Masahiko was stuck in one of the webs and Culumon was running all over the place, narrowly escaping the claws of something. Juri took out her D-ark and tried to scan the creature. Her hand gripped the D-ark tightly and waited. The window was completely broken and rain and wind was getting into the room, soaking the bed and things.

"What? Child? This is the child? Where is D-ark? Where is Leomon? This not child? Where Tamer?" The digimon hissed as he chased down Culumon into a corner. Masahiko looked completely fine but was tangled in the webbing, a few strands had been cut and the knife her father brought up was on a wall with it's blade stuck. The D-ark came to life and went into digi-analyzer mode. 

'Kumon... Child...Viral... Attack: Sticky Net...' Juri read it off in her head. She almost gasped when she saw it grab Culumon and bring up face to face with it.

"Where is Tamer?!" The Kumon hissed viciously at Culumon.

"What are you talking about, culu?" Culumon asked in a tight frightened voice. He sneaked a peek behind and saw Juri who was watching in silence. Taking her time she began to enter the room and bent down to grab the knife, hoping that the digimon was distracted enough not to notice her. She raised her and put her index finger on Masahiko's finger to silence him with but an action. Masahiko was weeping uncontrollably but understood the situation enough to remain silence and still to let Juri do her work.

"Do not lie to me, pathetic worm. Where is Tamer? Where Katou Juri?" Kumon hissed and gripped Culumon tightly around the throat. Juri noticed and realized if she didn't do anything Culumon would get deleted. Her hand shook as she let the familiar feel of the knife in her hand. How did this digimon know her name? How much did it know about her? The questions in head swirled as she considered her options. She could stab Kumon in the back while it was distracted but it might delete Kumon. On the other hand if she let Kumon continue to hurt Culumon, Culumon would get deleted. She aimed the knife and closed her eyes.

"AHHH!!!" Juri screamed as she ran forward with the knife outstretched. She didn't want to see what she was going to do. She couldn't bear to lose another friend because she was acting weak. Kumon had not paid attention to its surrounding as it tried to extract information from Culumon. Humans were so pathetically weak in its mind that it had underestimated them completely. Caught off guard it accidentally loosened its grip on Culumon, who squirmed out and ran away, it felt the knife cut into its back.

"GAH!" Kumon screamed in pain and backhanded Juri into the wall behind her. The knife pulled out of Kumon's back easily and black data coated the blade and Juri's hands. Juri's hands shook when she was the black swirling data on her hands like blood and tried to keep calm. She looked up and saw Kumon charge straight ahead to Masahiko who was completely unprotected.

"NO!" Juri screamed. She couldn't move and hysterically thought that Kumon meant to kill her defenceless little brother. Fortunately Kumon had a completely different idea, it would kidnap this human child and ransom him for the Tamer Katou Juri. He had no idea what the human he was supposed to capture looked like but it wasn't willing to fail. It's sharp claws went through the webbing easily and roughly grabbed Masahiko before jumping out the broken glass of the window it first came through.

"Onee-chan!!!" Masahiko screamed out in terror. The digimon leapt onto the neighbouring roof and began running away via the rooftops. Juri ran to the window, dropping the data splattered knife in her hands onto the floor. She peered out the window and saw Masahiko struggle in Kumon's grasp. It stood on a roof trying to grip Masahiko better.

"Well... That was amusing," a light bored voice made itself known. Juri quickly turned around to see who it was. Sen sat on a chair in one of the darker corners of the room with his arms crossed. His blue and green eyes glowed in the darkness like a fey being and Juri felt her blood run cold. She had no idea how he got in and below she could hear her father shouting.

"Juri! What happened? Get down here!" Juri's father called up in a pained voice.

"Hold still! You're bleeding badly!" The frantic voice of her mother could be heard.

Juri looked back out the window and saw Kumon lift her little brother up by the throat.

"What are you going to do?" Sen asked curiously. He sat on the chair and began calculating the situation. Culumon managed to crawl out of his hiding place and went up to the window where Juri was. A part of Culumon's ear had been clipped by Kumon's sharp claw and a small bit of data bleed out but other than that Culumon looked completely fine. The rain obscured their vision but the could clearly see Kumon and Masahiko on the other roof.

"What can I do?" Juri said in a quiet voice. Sen managed to hear it quite fine with his sensitive hearing and simply laid back further into the chair. Kumon outside roared out his demands to Juri.

"Hear me human! I demand a trade off! This human child for another human child by the name of Katou Juri! I demand her immediate surrender or the boy dies!!!" Kumon shouted over the wind. Juri's blood went cold and debated what to do.

"Let me go!!!" Masahiko screamed in terror.

"You know I can save your little brother... For a price," Sen explained idly. He got up from his chair and stood behind Juri. He was not smiling, this was business after all.

"Price?..." Juri asked. Her hand trembled and her grasp on her D-ark was tighter now. She whirled around and faced Sen. Her face was angry at the casual way Sen offered his services.

"How can you put a price on life?" Juri almost screamed at Sen. Sen simply shrugged and look evenly back. Juri's reaction didn't faze him, at least she did slap him or try to hurt him. Not that it mattered, he could of easily avoided such blows.

"It's easy after you get used to it," Sen responded. Juri was stunned by the revelation. Outside in the rain Masahiko was still screaming and Kumon shouted out again.

"I demand the Tamer Katou Juri!" Kumon proclaimed once more. To emphasize his demand he let one of his claws dig into Masahiko's arm and drew blood. Juri turned around when she heard her little brother scream with pain and saw that blood had been drawn.

"Onee-chan!!!" Masahiko called out plaintively. His tears mixed in with the rain but Kumon was unmerciful.

"Masahiko! I'm coming, stay right there!" Juri shouted. She went out her window carefully and shivered in the cold wind. Calculating her distance from the other roof, she gritted her teeth and climbed onto her roof. Sen was baffled at what Juri was planning and followed her out. Culumon followed after Juri and landed on her shoulder and held on. Kumon noticed the three individuals on the other roof and prepared for anything.

"Come any closer and the boy dies! I want Katou Juri!!!" Kumon ordered. He held one his claws in front of Masahiko's face and waited for their response. Sen stood in the rain, not getting wet, while Juri and Culumon was getting soaked.

"I can end this easily, you know that of course," Sen said in a cold voice. He noted that Kumon was panicking and might harm Masahiko permanently if something was not done soon. Juri outstretched her arms to make her seen more easily by Kumon and acted like a target.

"I am Katou Juri! Leave him alone! I'm right here come and get me!!" Juri shouted at Kumon. Sen sighed and rolled his eyes. He hated saints, they were all so naive and Juri was quite frankly stupid. Did she really expect Kumon to keep his promise and let her little brother go? A twisted grim smile came on the face of Kumon who dropped Masahiko on the ground.

"Finally," Kumon muttered and raised his claws in the air above Masahiko with exultation. He made it deliberately slow to show Juri what he was about to do to Masahiko. Juri's jaw drop and she screamed.

"NO!!! Abaddon save him!" Juri screamed. She knew she wouldn't make it in time but she jumped to the next roof next to her house. Culumon tightly gripped her shoulder so he wouldn't fall off and took a look around. The strange blond haired boy was no longer standing anywhere near Juri. One second he was standing right beside Juri, now he seemed to have disappeared in thin air.

Sen found time slowing down and he materialized right beside Kumon and caught his arm. With a deliberate twist, a sickening cracking sound could be heard in Kumon's arm before Sen ripped it out of Kumon's arm socket. Data spewed out and mixed into the rain, spraying Masahiko who was completely terrified. The green and blue eye was glowing in the darkness. Kumon face looked bewildered and tried to raise his other arm to slash Sen but to Sen's mind everything was in slow motion. He could see every fleck of data in the air from the wound he had inflicted on Kumon. He was moving so fast and Kumon so slow that it was unnerving at times. By the time Kumon finished making a single blink of an eye, Sen knew he had won.

Juri saw everything as she was in mid-air and roughly landed on the other roof with a crash. Culumon fell off her shoulder and landed a few meters in front of her from the force of the landing. Juri got up slowly with her eyes widen, she didn't even see Abaddon move to where Kumon was standing. He seemed to materialize out of thin air and rip Kumon's arm out.

"You owe me one," Sen said, loud enough for Juri to hear, as he grabbed Kumon's head with both hands and literally tore apart the head without any visible effort. The other claw missed Sen completely and caught only air. 

The ripping sound echoed in Masahiko's head as he watched everything transpire. More data spewed out from Kumon's body like blood, mixing with the rain, but Sen was completely dry while Masahiko was covered in data. The young boy's eyes were wide open and stared up at the dark figure who handily defeated the monster that was going to kill him. It only took three seconds for him to defeat the digimon and Masahiko found himself unable to cry out or move. 

This Abaddon looked so impervious and powerful when a flash of lightening light up his features. The black trench coat was dry and meticulous, even Abaddon's hands were completely clean though he had killed Kumon with his bare hands, Masahiko noted.

"... Well... That was easy... Remember Ms. Katou, you're in my debt. I'll collect one day and don't tell anyone that you owe me one," Sen said in a business like voice, acting as if ripping Kumon's head apart was a walk in the park. Juri ran to Masahiko and hugged him. In the distance the sirens of police and ambulances could be heard but Juri noticed none of this. Masahiko trembled and hugged his sister back.

"It's all right Masahiko... You're safe now... I can't lose you as well," Juri said in a soothing voice. Her hands were still white with shock and Culumon came up to the two siblings, no longer laughing or smiling but looking sad. Juri's voice was calm but inwardly she was shuddering at the realization of how close she was to losing another person precious to her.

"Juri... Masahiko... culu..."Culumon said in a sad voice. Culumon nursed his clipped ear and waited in the rain. The dried data that once bled from his ear was splattered on his white fur on top of his head.

Masahiko could only hug back in shock. He was covered in data and he no longer trembled. All he could think about was how utterly weak he was and how powerful his mysterious saviour was. So powerful that he had defeated the monster that attacked him. 

Sen reached into his trench coat and pulled a piece of paper out and a pen.

"Sign this," Sen said as he gave Juri the pen. She looked blankly at the contract in front of her.

"What?" Juri asked and stared at the pen in her hand.

"I did you a service and now you must sign... or do you want me to end the life of whom I saved?" Sen asked and pointed contemptuously at Masahiko. Juri closed her eyes and signed her name on the contract without thinking. Sen took the pen and contract away from Juri and put it away in his trench coat.

"Remember Ms. Katou that if you tell anyone that I was involved in this, your brother's life is forfeited to me," Sen explained.

"I know Abaddon... I understand completely, just go," Juri said in a cracked voice. Masahiko could only look up at Sen as he faded into the night. It was as if he was never there to begin with and rain still fell from the sky.

Abaddon was a name that Masahiko was going to remember for a very long time. Most of all, the show of power was something he would remember for the rest of his life.

For Juri however the only thing she could note about the entire thing was that the song she had stuck in her head was finally gone.

*****(A few moments before)*****

"Yllas's servants have been sent forth and shall do Yllas's will," the blue flame proclaimed. Ruksasha could only wonder at times if the blue flame really was the true body of Yllas. Wasn't the true form of Yllas supposed to be a grand blob of some sort with hundreds of eye stalks that made people go insane with but a gaze? At least that was what Ruksasha saw in a carvings in the digital world somewhere. In any case the deed was done and flame twitched.

"I see that you didn't know much about the children until now," Ruksasha said out loud noting Yllas's reaction to the information.

"It matters not." Yllas proclaimed and flared up a bit as if waiting in anticipation. Ruksasha felt infinitely glad that he didn't give Yllas all the information on the Tamers. What was the fun of telling your client everything there was to know? It would make the jobs of too many power-hungry beings too easy. Yes, it was far more profitable and entertaining for your client to stumble around looking for what was wrong, not realizing that a single piece information was missing.

"So Makino Katoru's brood is strong. Good, she may be the one," Yllas began to mutter to himself and ponder on the predicament of the Tamers. There were too few faithful of his to make the capture of Ruki and more over he lacked the strength to personally hunt her down. Yllas was all ready spreading his forces thin by attacking the Tamers and eliminating them before they could reach Ruki and interfere with his plans. The sacrifice had to be soon or else he could not devour the 'essence'. Ruksasha waited patiently for Yllas to stop rambling and attend to the business at hand, but it seemed apparent that Yllas was off in lala-land.

Ruksasha coughed lightly and laid back on a wall for a moment. The sound interrupted Yllas thoughts and the blue flame raged upwards to the roof in anger.

"What is that you want of Yllas, heathen?" The blue flame demanded. Ruksasha dropped his spent cigar on the ground and put it out with his foot.

"Oh nothing. But I was wondering how you are going to capture Makino Ruki when so many of you're faithful are now gone and dead," Ruksasha idly observed. He smiled ever so secretly, enjoying the fact that a year ago under the employ of Zhuqiaomon, Ruksasha and Sen together helped eliminated twelve cult cells of Yllas and plunged it into chaos. It was so much fun and Yllas was completely clueless as to who had done it.

"Why should Yllas be concerned about that?" Yllas demanded. Ruksasha rolled his eyes in disbelief, one would think that a crazy immortality obsessed with an 'I am God' syndrome would have a better grasp of tactics. Then again Yllas was a pretty arrogant bastard.

"I'm just pointing out the fact that you don't have so many of your faithful left to try and capture Makino. You'll be spending a lot of effort trying to eliminate the potential threat of the Tamers and have barely anyone left to capture her."

A silence fell as the Yllas considered the tactical flaw of his plans. He all ready knew of it but he needed to eliminate the Tamers. The flame flickered evenly and then addressed Ruksasha.

"How did you know that?"

"Jeez, it's not that hard to see that you're hard up when it comes to finding more faithful among humans. The faithful in the digital world are going to find it next to impossible to crossover to the real world without notice in large numbers because of Hypnos and not to mention Zhuqiaomon is opposed to you." Ruksasha needed to light a small fire under Yllas's feet but then again seeing that Yllas was all ready a flame, it may not matter.

"Zhuqiaomon is nothing to Yllas! Let the pathetic bird try and stop me! As for those pathetic heathen humans, Yllas spits upon their efforts."

"That's all well and good but what are you going to do about it?"

"...What do you suggest? Speak heathen or leave my presence."

"The Devil's Advocate Unlimited can try and satisfy your innermost desires. You want Makino Ruki. We can give you Makino Ruki. For a price of course."

"A price? You are not so eager to discuss the price of your services usually."

"Yes, usually but I have to tell you the price before you decide. You might not like it and I would like to avoid making unnecessary enemies."

"Name your price."

"I want the essence of Kimatori Ayahiko. An 'ascended' Ruksasha essence you captured."

"What kind of request is that?"

"I want her essence to make me a true Ruksasha."

Yllas paused to consider it's option. Ruksasha wondered why he bothered naming a price. It was not profitable and the essence of Kimatori Ayahiko, mother of Sen, was completely useless to him. The essence, the soul, couldn't help him in his quest to become a true 'Ruksasha' of the spiritual world but the melancholy of his partner was becoming a bit unbearable. It made Ruksasha sad to a certain extent that Sen could not seem to move away from the past. The pieces had fallen and Sen hadn't bothered to pick them up.

"An essence for an essence? I want a 'Devil's Contract' if we are going to go into such a deal. Yllas only uses your services because you are always faithful fulfill your end of the bargain," Yllas said. The loss of a weak and useless essence in exchange for a strong and vibrant one was too much of a good deal for Yllas but it had to wonder what Ruksasha was up to. Perhaps he was trying to extract the essence in a vain attempt to become a real Ruksasha rather than a data one. Or perhaps it was for an entirely different reason but that hardly mattered. The trade off was to Yllas's benefit.

"If you wish," Ruksasha had expected this and obliged. A simple trade-off and he could still fulfill their other client's contract without problem.

"Devil's Contract!" Ruksasha said in a low voice. In a brief burst of light, a glowing piece of paper appeared out of nowhere and writing began scrawl itself all over the service. Clauses, penalties and various legal jargon was being etched as was the perimeters of the task was being written out and acknowledged. Under Ruksasha's and Yllas's watchful eyes the words were read off and the finished contract floated in the air. Without a thought Ruksasha grasped the paper and felt energy surge through him. It tingled through his hand with the binding strength of the contract rippled in through the air. It didn't matter how often Ruksasha summoned these contracts up, he could never get used to them. He may of called them up with his power but what exactly enforced or created these binding agreements was a complete mystery to him. Not even the Four Guardian Gods of the Digital World, even knew what exactly gave Ruksashamons in the realities to call upon the power to spiritually, and occasionally physically, bind two parties under the agreement of the Devil's Contract.

Apparently some half-wit out there thought it amusing to call the agreement, the Devil's Contract to add the mystique to it. It was now standard fare to summon the power under that name, it seemed the provider of contract didn't care what the agreement was called as long it was fulfilled. It did not matter if the other party fulfilled it as it was expected for the client or unexpectedly. If any of the parties broke the contract there were serious repercussions, or so everyone claimed but no one really was stupid to try and find out on purpose. Ruksasha however knew exactly what happened to those who broke the contract and it wasn't pretty.

Ruksasha looked over the contract and it's legal language over again before committing his signature to it with one of his claws. The information had been given and Yllas had tendered for a service from Devil's Advocate Unlimited. All that was left was for Yllas to sign the agreement and they could begin their job. The blue flame twitched and Ruksasha approached the flame without hesitation. With a single thrust Ruksasha plunged the contract into the blue flame and saw the signature writ on the surface. He pulled out from the flame after the signing and rolled the contract before pulling it apart. A flash of light could be seen as Ruksasha pulled the contract apart to reveal two perfect copies of the same signed contracts.

"It is done. Pacta sunt servanda," Ruksasha uttered in Latin. Another useless little odd custom that all signers said but no one really bothered to ignore. He threw one of the contracts into the blue flame and kept the other one in his hand.

"Remember! Yllas want Makino Ruki! That's all you need to do. Bring her to Yllas and Yllas shall pay your price," Yllas said. Ruksasha looked at the agreement in hand and turned his back on Yllas.

"Yes... I know... The Devil's Advocate Unlimited shall bring Makino Ruki to you," Ruksasha promised.

*****

Shuichon was completely and utterly bored as she sat around in her room. Well actually it was her sister Jaarin's room as well but that was moot point at the moment. The room was in disarray with Jaarin's things and clothing strewn all over the room. Shuichon noted how crowded the room felt and began looking for Lopmon. She soon found the diminutive digimon shuddering in a corner in the living room where her mother had thrown all of Janyuu's things. Rinchei, Jaarin and her mother were busy moving out Jaarin's things. An argument could be heard, as they argued about the amount of Jaarin had somehow accumulated over the years.

"You can't throw that away! I'd die if you got rid of any of my cool stuff!" Jaarin protested.

"Give me a break! This is junk! Tell me why you have a poster of SMAP! That band sucks!" Rinchei argued back. He sounded disgusted by some of the things that his sister kept in her room.

"I don't care! You are not throwing it away!" Jaarin argued back.

"But there's not enough space in Shuichon's room to hold even half the stuff you have in this room. I don't know how you stored all these things but some of it has to go," Mayumi explained to her daughter. It was an uphill battle. Shuichon ignored the loud arguments and approached Lopmon quietly.

"Lopmon? What's wrong? Are you cold?" Shuichon asked concerned. The digimon looked rather pale and was still shuddering.

"I am fine Shuichon. I am merely trying to calm myself down with the expectation of your future younger siblings," Lopmon explained. The idea of more young vibrant children hugging him was a horrible nightmare for Lopmon but he didn't show his own personal terror in front of Shuichon. 

"... Do you want a hug?" Shuichon asked softly. Lopmon blinked and slowly nodded. Shuichon wrapped her arms around Lopmon gently and just hugged him. This greatly surprised Lopmon, he expected a crushing energetic hug rather than a gentle one. He found his stress leave him and found it oddly lacking in some sort of sense.

'Dear Zhuqiaomon above... Don't tell me I actually like being smothered to death!' Lopmon thought to himself. He didn't pursue any further thoughts and heard something scratching on the door. Lopmon thought he heard the footfalls of someone outside the apartment door and the fumbling of an item.

"Shuichon... There's someone outside the door," Lopmon whispered to Shuichon and extracted himself from her grasp. He went straight up to the apartment door avoiding the junk strewn across the room in silence. He listened even more intently and heard someone fumbling with some sort of item. The presence didn't feel human, it felt oddly like a digimon but it was trying it's best not be detected.

"Rinchei! Help me get your sister off that box! We're throwing it out!" Mayumi ordered and the sounds of struggling could be heard.

"Get off sis!" Rinchei shouted.

"No. This is my stuff! I want get rid of it! All my childhood memories are in that box!" Jaarin argued back.

"There's nothing but sappy romance manga in there!" Rinchei shouted back.

Shuichon stood in the hallway, a little away from the door out of the apartment and behind Lopmon. She listened intently and heard the sound of something putting something on the door. Shuichon and Lopmon thought they heard the beeping of buttons. Lopmon got a terrible gut feeling about the entire strange situation. They had no idea of the terrible and destructive plan that the individual behind the door was planning.

Ekamon came up with a simple plan. To eliminate the Tamers, one just had to blow up the building that they were living in. A single bomb can kill them where a powerful digimon could not. Besides Ekamon was just a simple child digimon, there was not a chance in hell it could defeat a digimon that had human Tamer to help provide it power ups. No a more mundane touch of technology and explosives would do the job. C4 was a very powerful and useful little human invention. He would have to tell his master the benefits of having modern weapons.

"BLAZING ICE!!!" Lopmon shouted and attacked. Five solid pieces of ice formed and smashed right through the door, splintering it into little kindling. Ekamon didn't even have time to look up, the attack ripped right through his body like paper. The gaping holes that the attack left revealed that hit its target dead on. At first Lopmon thought it was a human but began to see pieces of data float upwards into the air and smear itself all over the floor. The arguing of the Lee family had stopped and they all charged out of Jaarin's room to see what had happened. Shuichon had never seen her partner kill anyone or anything before numbly opened the door to reveal more of the slain individual behind it. It was a vaguely human looking but had a misshapen body and stick thin arms. It's full articulated hands lay limply by it side as the floor began to soak with data. The holes in its body from Lopmon's Blazing Ice attack had gone right through its body and data spewed from it. In the hands of the steadily fading body was a small block of some sort with wires sticking out and a timer that blinked 1:21 and counting downwards.

"Lopmon... Is he dead?" Shuichon asked in a tearful voice. She unsteadily pointed her D-ark at the deleting digimon and let it scan. Lopmon felt immediately guilty but he sensed that Shuichon and everyone was in danger so he attacked. He still felt that the danger was still there and eventually the body disappeared completely, leaving only data splattered on the wall and floor in the hallway of the apartment.

"What happened?!" Mayumi asked as she ran towards Shuichon and hugged her. The D-ark finished its scan before the body faded away and revealed its data.

Ekamon... Child... Viral... Attack: Retribution Strike...

"Lopmon..." Shuichon said as she stepped back a bit. She stared at the small little block that now read 2 minutes and counting. Mayumi's eyes widened at the small block and counter.

"Oh my god... It's a bomb!" Mayumi said her jaw dropping. Lopmon sprung into action and went out into the hallway to pick up the block. The sound of the attack had gotten everyone's attention on the entire apartment floor. People immediately peeked their head out the door and saw Lopmon in the hallway standing in a pool of black data with a fusion block in his hands.

"That crazy digimon has a bomb! Damn it I knew I should have moved out when I heard there was digimon next door!" One of the neighbours said in a loud enough voice and ran back into his apartment to drag out his family. Another neighbour saw what had happened and backed away from Lopmon.

"That thing's dangerous! I'm out of here!" The woman screamed. People on the entire floor began to stream out of their apartment and run down the stairs to escape. Lopmon on the other hand had no idea what a bomb looked like and simply stared at the counter, which was still steadily counting down.

"Oh $%^#, it really is a bomb!" Rinchei swore, forgetting the fact that his youngest sister was right next to him. Shuichon wasted no time and got out of her mother's grasp. She had an idea to safely dispose of the bomb.

"Lopmon, follow me!" Shuichon said as she ran back into the Lee family apartment and began opening a window. Lopmon with the bomb quickly followed after his Tamer and looked expectantly at her.

"What do you want me to do Shuichon?" Lopmon asked quickly. He looked at the timer and saw 1:31 minutes left on the counter. The window was now fully opened and the rain and wind got into the apartment.

"You have to digivolve! Then go outside, get on the roof and throw the bomb as far as you can into the water before the time runs out!" Shuichon explained. She began fumbling around for her evolution card and realized she didn't have any cards on her. She raced back into her room and frantically looked for a card. The room was in disarray however since Jaarin's things were all over the place.

"You two! Get out of the apartment! The bombs going to go off soon!" Mayumi ordered her two remaining children who were still hanging around.

"But what about you?" Jaarin said as Rinchei grabbed her by the arm to drag her out the apartment.

"I'm going to get Shuichon!" Mayumi said as she ran back into the apartment for her youngest daughter who was still looking for an evolution card. Shuichon pushed off a box of her sister's things, ignoring the mess it made and grabbed her personal Digimon playing cards and began looking for an Evolution card.

"I got it!!!" Shuichon shouted with joy. Mayumi entered the room and made a mad dash to Shuichon.

"We have to get out of here! Forget about your plan!" Mayumi shouted as she tried to grab Shuichon. She missed Shuichon who made a sudden move to the right, barely avoiding her mother.

"Don't worry Mama! I got everything under control," Shuichon proclaimed as she ran out the room with the card. Lopmon looked at the timer and saw it read 1 minute. Shuichon took the card and her D-ark out.

"Card slash!... Evolution!" Shuichon cried out as she slashed the card. Lopmon jumped out the window of the Lee apartment and began to glow. Data streamed towards his body, making it grow larger and stronger. In a brilliant flash of light Lopmon became Antylamon who landed dug his feet into the side of the apartment building and began climbing up to the roof with the bomb in hand. The rain and wind still pelted down.

"GO ANTYLAMON!!!" Shuichon shouted with encouragement. Mayumi came out of the bedroom and grabbed Shuichon. She dragged her reluctant daughter out of the apartment and headed downstairs to get out.

Janyuu looked up at his home for a moment as he drove back to his apartment and came to a screeching halt in his car. Like King Kong climbed the Empire States Building, Antylamon seemed to imitate. Janyuu had absolutely no idea what was going on and failed to take into account that there were other drivers behind him who had not stopped as abruptly. A car rammed into Janyuu's van and jolted Janyuu forward into the dashboard. The only thoughts that ran through his head were his family but he wasn't in any condition to say or think anything. The collision with the dashboard knocked Janyuu out cold. The screeching of wheels could be heard all over the place as drivers stopped to take a better look of what was happening.

Yamaki, in his car, was more fortunate than Janyuu but no less shocked by the sight he saw. Immediately his cell phone began beep insistently and Reika reached over and answered it. With a simple push of a button Reika turned the phone on.

"It's Hypnos... They're reporting a huge data spike..." Reika deadpanned. Yamaki sighed and took the phone away from her. He spoke into the phone.

"This is Yamaki. I can see what's causing it... Make sure the military doesn't go crazy on us. Try to slow them down, I'm hanging up right now." With that Yamaki hung up and unbuckled his seatbelt. Reika looked surprised and shook her head.

"That was rather abrupt," Reika commented. She got off her seatbelt and reached over to her son Katsuyo to see if he was all right. The boy looked at around in wonder why everyone seemed to be panicking.

"I'm going to check on Janyuu," Yamaki said and got out of the car. He narrowly avoided being run over by a careless driver who crashed into the car that crashed into Janyuu's van. Yamaki was completely soaked by the rain in ten seconds flat, a new record. He ran over to the van and saw the older man knocked unconscious and hanging over the driver's wheel. Narrowing his eyes, Yamaki tried opening the car door and finding it locked. Snarling Yamaki pounded on the glass but Janyuu didn't react, finally Yamaki smashed the glass with a rock. With the window gone Yamaki opened the door from the inside and got the unconscious Janyuu out. A bit of blood streamed from a head wound that Janyuu had and people around Yamaki began panicking. The infernal rain still poured.

"It's a digimon! When's the government going to destroy it?" A person in the masses asked. His umbrella lost among others.

"I thought they destroyed all of them!" Another shouted.

The end result was the same however. People started to get as far away from the digimon who was climbing the apartment building. Antylamon could see that the timer now had reached 33 seconds when he finally arrived on the roof. He took a good look around and saw the bay a little ways off. He jumped up into the air and landed on the roof another building lightly and began to a sort colossal hopscotch game while he counted the seconds he had left.

'Almost to the Bay, almost to the Bay,' Antylamon repeated over and over again in his head. The wind howled and he almost lost his footing due to the slickness of the rain. There was now only 13 seconds left and he wound his arm back for a long throw into the Bay. He launched into the air, long and low across the water until it went into the water with a distant plop. Then when the timer reached zero.

BOOM!!!!

A massive explosion was let lose. Water was thrown up into the air at a height of three stories before coming back down to earth. Luckily there were no ships or land close by where the bomb had been thrown too. The water sprayed all over the place and Antylamon sensed his body shrinking. Excess data used to make him digivolve immediately dissipated into the air. He became Lopmon again and then realized a few things. First off, he had no idea where he was. Second, it was freezing cold. Third, a lot of people were panicking around him and avoiding.

Sighing Lopmon looked around and saw the terrified faces of people staring at him. The rain had soaked his fur and people were backing off. It was time to disappear; perhaps he could hitch a ride and find a way back. It was going to be a long and wet night.

'And I thought the worst that could happen to me was being smothered by Shuichon.'

*****

Impmon lazed about in the TV room. It was raining out and he was catching up on his reading. Okay he wasn't reading a complicated book but it was nonetheless an interesting read.

"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" Impmon read off. The story Treasure Island was tedious after seventeen reads but it was an easy story. After finding out how crippling illiteracy was in the Real World a year ago, Impmon had been dedicating his energies into becoming literate. He could even write in Japanese, something that he was very proud of seeing how hard it was to write with a pen. He stopped reading and put down the book for a break. Impmon noted proudly that he had read halfway through the story and would probably done in a day or more. Impmon flicked on the TV with the remote to catch up on the news.

The rain outside and wind was kicking up again. Ai and Makoto were eating in the kitchen with their parents and the familiar sound of eating could be heard. Impmon had all ready eaten and relaxed slightly. It was nice to discover that Ai and Makoto's parents were nice enough to let him stay with their children rather than running him out of the house. They were really far too kind to let him stay. The house was warm, cheery and well light. Outside it was miserable and wet.

"Impmon do you want anything eat?" Ai asked as she walked into the TV room. She smiled slightly as she watched Impmon turn around after turning on the TV.

"Huh? Oh... No thanks. I'm not hungry, if I get hungry I'll just eat an apple," Impmon answered and smiled. Makoto peeked out his head from the kitchen.

"Are you reading again?" Makoto asked suspiciously. Impmon felt like laughing, he remembered Makato's reaction when Impmon asked for his books and school textbooks.

******

"Why would you want to do 'school work'?" Makoto asked in an unbelieving voice.

"Because I want to learn how to read and write!" Impmon had answered.

"You're crazy!" Makoto retorted.

******

"Yes I'm reading again but I'm taking a break," Impmon answered. He smiled and looked at the news, he smile fell off his face immediately. The news anchor began to show footage of Antylamon jumping across the city at top speed towards the bay. Though the footage was a bit grainy, Impmon could read the little live tag on the lower right hand corner of the TV.

"Digimon have once more made an appearance in Shinjuku. People are shown panicking in the street and have clogged traffic causing severe disruption..." The news anchor said in a critical voice as if blaming Antylamon for all the problems in the world. Impmon frowned and wondered what was going on. Ai and Makoto watched the TV intently and listened. The footage kept on Antylamon and showed him drawing his arm back to throw something into the Bay. Impmon could barely see a small package of some sort being thrown into the Bay.

"What the..." Impmon muttered and got on his feet baffled. Why would Lopmon digivolve to Antylamon? Was there some danger that Impmon didn't know about? 

The answer came a few seconds latter when a huge explosion in the Bay was revealed. The explosion threw up more water in the air and Impmon eyes widened. Did Antylamon go berserk and launch an attack on the Bay? Was there a rogue digimon in the waters?

"The digimon seems to be attacking vessels in the Bay area!... Wait... Now it's fading away... No it's shrinking! Why hasn't the army launch any of its units to handle the digimon threat? Is there some sort of government conspiracy at work here? We may never know," the news anchor continued in his critical voice. 

Impmon watched on the TV as Antylamon return to his original Child form Lopmon. The news camera took that very opportunity to blank out and end it's live feed. The entire family entered the TV room when the explosion happened and there was silence.

"I don't understand. Is there an attack?" The mother asked Impmon in a curious voice.

"I don't know. If there was why didn't the other Tamers tell me?" Impmon answered. He turned around to face Ai and Makoto and their parents. They seemed concerned and Impmon couldn't provide any answers.

"I'm going to give Lee's a call to see what's going on," the father said out loud and headed towards the kitchen to make a phone call.

That was when the family dog, Kesa, began to whine and growl. His fur stood up on its end and snarled at something down the hallway. Everyone froze for a moment and waited.

"And so the government claims of having the digimon situation under nominal control can now be..." The anchor man continued and probably would have continued his tirade if the power of the house hadn't of gone out at that moment. The entire house was plunged into darkness and Kesa still growled.

"What the, power is out? Phone's dead as well..." The father said out loud and put down the dead phone. Impmon summoned up a ball of his flames to light up the room a bit. Bringing Ai and Makoto into the middle of the room the mother had a troubled look on her face.

"Come on children, gather around the fire okay?" The mother said soothingly. Kesa still growled and made a few tentative steps down the hallway.

"Kesa! Come here," Makoto exclaimed agitated. He went to the dog and grabbed it by the collar. The dog continued to whine and Makoto tried to discern what Kesa was growling and snapping at. His father came out of the kitchen and looked down the ominous hallway as well. Impmon approached with one of his balls of flame and listened. A quiet scratching noise could be heard, like claws on hardwood floors but with a more tat-tat sort of sound. Kesa bolted and managed to get out of Makoto's grasp.

"Kesa!" Makoto called out and followed after the dog. Impmon saw his young Tamer chase after the dog and gave pursuit.

"Makoto stop! There's something down there!" Impmon shouted. Kesa turned a corner in the hall and a loud yelp and sickening cutting sound could be heard. It echoed down the hall and Makoto stopped halfway between the corner and the other end. Impmon came right next to his Tamer and waited.

Thump... thump... hiss...

That was all that everyone could hear. 

Plop... Plop...

Two pieces were thrown down the hall and landed by Impmon's feet. It was the two bloody pieces of what was left Kesa. Makoto mouth opened wide with terror and Impmon felt mildly sick. The blood of the unfortunate dog stained Makoto's socks and the boy began to tremble.

"... Kesa..." Makoto whispered. The two were both so busy looking at the halved corpse that when they looked down the hallway again they saw an ugly creature with wicked claws. Blood dribbled down its claws and mouth, the white eyes bored down on the two and it seemed to smile. Makoto's parents came down the hallway with Ai and saw what had happened to Kesa. Trying in vain, the mother tried to cover Ai's eyes from the corpse of the family dog but it was all ready too late. Ai also saw the bloody remains of Kesa and chocked back a sob. Impmon kept his eye on the creature down the hall and realized something. The other creature was digimon but more than that it did this on purpose. It had cut the phone lines, it cut the power and it deliberately threw Kesa's wrecked corpse at them for a purpose. Impmon realized that this was all planned and he needed to get the family out of here.

"Run! We need to get out!" Impmon shouted and began to push the family back down the hall while keeping his eye on the sadistic digimon. Ai lifted her D-ark to analyze the creature.

"Kumon... Child... Viral.... Attack: Sticky Net..." Ai read off from the D-ark. The parents had grabbed Makoto and Ai up and would have followed Impmon's advice but couldn't.

"STICKY NET!" Another Kumon made a pincer attack on the unsuspecting family. It blocked the other end of the hallway and trapped the human family. Impmon was distracted by it and turned around for an instant to see that the family had been caught in the net. The distraction proved deadly and the Kumon in front of Impmon rushed forward with claws splayed.

"Impmon!" Makoto shouted out pointing behind Impmon the charging Kumon.

"Night of Fire!"Impmon attacked while whirling around to meet Kumon's attack. The flames hit Kumon on the face but the claws dug into Impmon's leg and data began bleed out from the cut. The two digimon were now in close combat and Impmon was at a disadvantage. Close combat was not a specialty that Impmon excelled at in his diminutive Child form. Now if he were Beelzemon, he'd kick his enemies butt but as it stood now he was screwed. It was a completely unfair fight, close combat fight and four humans that he could not effectively protect to add on. There was still the issue of the other digimon down the hall behind him who trapped the family but right now Impmon could only concentrate on the one in front of him.

"How'd you like that! Cause I got lots more where that came from!" Impmon shouted as he grimaced in pain. He summoned more mini flames from his finger and threw them at Kumon. Kumon dodged most of the attacks but got hammered by one or two of them. It was enough to blind Kumon for a moment and cause him to miss Impmon. The claws only hit the walls of the hall and make a deep gouge.

'Oh crap I'm in trouble,' Impmon realized. 

Meanwhile during this time the other digimon that had attacked Impmon and the family from behind was moving forward slowly letting the family fully view it. It extended its claws and debated which human to eliminate first, the little ones or the big ones? Lightning flashed again and light up its body. The white glowing eyes menacingly in the dark and it now a little past the double door to the living room.

"Impmon! There's another one behind us! It's coming to attack!" Makoto shouted. He tried to struggle out of the web but only ended up tangling everyone up even more. The entire family was helpless and under the mercy of the other Kumon. Impmon was far too busy fighting the other to help.

"ARGH!" Impmon screamed with frustration and punched Kumon who easily dodged Impmon's attack. A single claw attack hit Impmon on the shoulder and made a shallow wound. They circled each other warily looking for a slip in concentration, anything really to signal for an attack.

Then a loud sound of crashing glass and three banging sounds echoed through the air. They were gunshots and hit the Kumon who was approaching the family from behind. Its body was fully exposed to the glass doors in the TV room giving any shooter a perfect view of the Kumon. The bullets hit dead center on Kumon's head causing it to explode under the force of the bullets. The body of Kumon immediately exploded in data and left a huge puddle of inky black data on the floor and wall of the hall. Impmon and his opponent were too busy fighting to pay attention to the gunshot sounds. They were locked in mortal combat and didn't have the benefit of stopping to investigate. The sound of rain and the fresh smell of it could be sensed. Ai fumbled with the D-ark and tried to reach for a digimon card for the entire time but couldn't reach her pocket. The web prevented her from moving too much but she was desperate to help Impmon. Makoto seeing what his sister was trying to do reached for the pocket and picked out a card.

"I got it sis!" Makoto said as he gave Ai the card that took it to slash.

"Impmon! Card Slash! Offense Plug-In A!" Ai slashed the card through the D-ark and Impmon received much needed power to strengthen his attacks.

"Night of Fire!" Impmon attacked once more, jumping into the air above Kumon who extended his claws to try and gut Impmon. The mini flames however blew off both of Kumon's arms and head. The attack reduced Kumon to a husk and the body deleted. Data floated briefly in the air, staining the hall before fading away.

"Impmon are you all right?" The father asked as he tried moving his head to see what had happened. Impmon collapsed to his knees for a moment and winced in pain from the wounds he received. Though admittedly negligible, it was still nonetheless painful and distracting.

"Yeah, I'm all right. I'm going to get you down from there. Hold still," Impmon announced and cut the webbing off the family. Ai and Makoto surrounded Impmon while their mother went off into the kitchen to get a first aid kit to tend to Impmon's wounds. Impmon summoned a few floating flames to light up the house.

"You did it!" Makoto said and hugged Impmon. Ai was less than enthused and looked at the two data puddles where there were two digimons and what was left of Kesa which their father had hastily covered up with a coat. Blood seeped through the coat and under it to reveal an increasingly sticky red pool. The glow of the flame was enough to reveal the mess that hall was in.

"Ouch... Makoto let go it hurts!" Impmon protested and Makoto reluctantly let go. Makoto became sombre and went up to his sister. Standing by her side, he became very quiet and waited for Ai to say something.

"He was brave wasn't he..." Ai said to no one in particularly as her father hustled her and Makoto away from the body of Kesa. Impmon quietly looked at the covered up corpse of Kesa and then faced Ai.

"He was brave, worthy of the highest praise," Impmon said quietly to comfort Ai. He gripped his bleeding shoulder and let the mother bandage his wounds. The father took the two children out of the battle area and into another room leaving Impmon with Ai and Makoto's mother. It was rather uncomfortable.

"Thank you... For all that you've done," the mother said to Impmon as she bound the last bandage around Impmon's wounds.

"It's me that should be thanking you... I didn't do anything," Impmon said and went up to where the Kumon had been shot and then looked into the TV room. The glass sliding door was completely shattered; rain and wind easily entered the room and soaked the floor. Turning his attention to the place where the Kumon had died, Impmon could see the casing of three bullets on the ground.

"You fought to save our lives..." The mother pointed out.

"But I didn't save your life... Someone or something else did and it carries a mean gun," Impmon noted and picked up a bullet. Though blackened with data Impmon could see the brass casing and lifted it up to look at it better. It was about half an inch in length. He summoned another flame for more light and entered the TV room. The room was cold and glass and water were every where. Impmon looked out into the yard and tried to look for clues for the mysterious saviour but found nothing. The rain had washed away all the evidence and Impmon felt mildly unsettled by it all.

"Whoever or whatever you are, I'm in your debt," Impmon said to himself. Hidden on the roof where Impmon could not see and in the rain close to the shattered glass doors Sen smiled. The rain poured but did not get his clothing wet. His hearing picked up Impmon's words perfectly.

'That's all I need to hear... but damn is this thing a heavy sucker...,' Sen noted to himself and put the safety on his 'Desert Eagle'. He quickly put the gun into it's holster inside his trench coat. A last resort weapon just in case things got a bit too hot. It was of course highly illegal in Japan but as far Sen was concerned it was a risk he was all too willing to take. He wished however the barrel wasn't so long, eight inches was a bit much. Next time he would have to purchase a 'Baby Eagle' instead.

Sen took out his ear plugs and put them in his pockets. He looked out into the city from the roof while the rain fell and began to fade out. They were calling him and he would serve.


	11. Small Discovery

Ofuda - Japanese style charms, spells, etc. Basically a piece of paper with Chinese ideogram writing on it.

_I never did understand  
Why the past always ran  
The present always stayed  
And the future always hid  
It doesn't matter now  
It never mattered then  
I wish you could see_

'Who am I to complain about loneliness?' Kaho thought to herself. As she used to the broom to sweep the entrance of the temple. The sun was setting and the trees sighed in the wind. The rustling of leaves and the silence of the countryside were relaxing. From her vantage point at the temple she could see from miles around, surrounded by the beauty of nature and the fields of newly planted rice. Solitude at it's best. She was sixty-eight going into sixty-nine in a few more days and wondered if her grandchildren or great grandchildren would visit her sometime. Then again her relatives thought of her as some crazy coot that worshipped the rocks, trees and spirits, that belonged in a retirement home rather than a distant and ancient temple in the middle of nowhere. They didn't recognize her existence. Her husband had died ten years ago and none of the relatives came to attend the funeral. Their son died a few years before that and her daughter had disappeared off to America, never to be seen again. Kaho hadn't even seen the baby pictures of her great grandchildren yet, though she knew that they existed and were finishing college.

'I am an echo from a past that no one cares to remember,' Kaho reminded herself again. Being born in the middle of the 'Great Depression' was nothing noteworthy to remember. She was born in 1936 and could barely remember anything about it. All she remembered was everyone from the farmland below gathering around during the fall and pray for better weather next year for the planting season. Her father presided over the ceremonies and gave prayers and offerings to the Spirit world. There was always strange and wondrous people visiting during those times trying to look for the 'trigger' of their 'ascension' but then the war started and people stopped coming. Even the spirits seemed to disappear; her father was quite upset that they had all disappear. The farmers were all so busy worrying about the crops, about their sons at the battlefront and the influx of children from the cities trying to escape the Allied bombing. Even after war ended pilgrims still didn't come back and her father and mother died when in a freak accident when she became 15. She became the new 'Keeper of the Paths' at that age was left alone in the temple. She had trained all her life to take care of the temple and 'the Paths' but it was hard. Kaho had no brothers and sisters to help her and she had no choice but to quit school.

'I wish Sumeo was still around,' Kaho thought of her dead husband. She met him when she was just eighteen when he came to the temple completely by accident. A former soldier of the war, tired and in pain yet always kind and forgiving. He was fifteen years older than she was and she fell in love with him. It was his eyes that drew her to him, the eyes of kindness and profound loss. Their age difference never bothered them and yet the farmers would talk amongst themselves, scandalized by it. Always rumors and hearsay of the worst sort and it never did stop until after her son was born. And then her daughter soon after that. Her children, her precious children. The ones who hated the temple and all that it held, the ones who wanted to go to the city and never return. She and her husband let their children go for their own sake and hoped that perhaps they would return but they never did. The city took them and never gave them back. They never came home but they would occasionally send back a terse, unfeeling letter that they had gotten married and had a child or two. Kaho never understood why they hated it here and hated her.

'The past, always the past,' Kaho reminded herself and put away the broom. She could not leave the temple and Kaho knew from that moment that she was going to have a long and quiet existence until the spirits and pilgrims returned. There was no benefit from living here at the temple other than for the fact it gave Kaho unusual abilities and longevity. Perhaps it was because her children just didn't understand how special the temple really was and why they couldn't leave for somewhere more 'exciting'.

Kaho ran her hands through her hair and looked up at the sky. She was old and yet she was as strong and fast as someone who was just twenty years of age, perhaps more so, it was just too bad she didn't look young. People came and went like the days and nights it seemed. It wasn't until five years ago, when Sen finally visited in order to search for his 'trigger' to 'ascension'. It was after that that Kaho began to notice that the spirits were returning or becoming stronger again. It was as if a rebirth was happening and then two years after that Ruki came to the temple for the first time. Children at the temple, who weren't bent on damaging the vicinity, after over twenty years and the spirits coming back through 'the Paths' again. She had just meet her first one just today and the feeling of the temple's purpose became ever stronger again.

'And yet there will no one after me to take care of this place when I pass away... I was hoping perhaps Sen or Ruki would take my place but it would be selfish of me to impose something that on them,' Kaho thought to herself. Kaho walked around and began closing the doors around the temple, the wind was starting to become colder and dark clouds were in the distance. Rain was on the horizon and Kaho was worried about Ruki. The charm she had given her should be powerful enough to ward off mischievous pranks from various spirits but Kaho was not sure how effective it would be.

'That girl is too stubborn and prideful for her own good at times,' Kaho thought to herself exasperated by Ruki's often-careless decisions. Ruki would come back soon to the temple, that much was for certain but Kaho didn't exactly want to know 'how' Ruki came back. For all she knew Ruki could come back to the temple naked as jay bird because the spirits stole her clothing or Ruki's hair would be completely shaven off or any multitude of mean hearted pranks. And the enemy of Ruki's father, Yllas as Sen told Kaho once, was on the move. This was not a good time for Ruki to act stupid. In fact, it was best that Ruki return back home immediately and try and protect her family with, what did Sen call his Ruksasha friend, a digimon? Well it didn't matter if Ruki had the ability to protect her family from the threat then it would be best to return and kick Yllas's fanny around.

Kaho finished her chores for the day and went into one of the temple wards to cook some dinner for herself. But she stopped short of entering when she felt something on the wind. Turning around she looked straight a head at the forest.

"I know you're there! Don't bother to hide!" Kaho called out and reached for a hidden blade in the one of the pillars of the temple that were scattered around the temple. Supposedly it was a blessed weapon from the spiritual world and Kaho was inclined to believe it, the sword seemed to buzz with a faint power but that was besides the point. Kaho knew by legend that otherworldly spirits could not be harmed except by blessed weapons or something like that. In either case she was more than prepared if some idiot decided that a old woman living alone in a remote temple was easy pickings for a robbery.

"Hold thy hand. I am not thy enemy," a calm male voice from a bush soothingly said. The voice was trying to sound noble and such but Kaho could only roll her eyes and pick up her broom that she left leaning on the wall. She recognized that voice any where.

"Stop acting like an idiot and talk like a normal person!" Kaho said annoyed. She picked up her broom and threw it the bush. It hit dead on and a sort of hollow sound, like wood hitting stone, was heard.

"Sheesh! You don't have to act like a bitch!" A rather indignant voice retorted. Standing up from the bush with broom in hand was a rather young looking boy who was rubbing the back of his head in pain. He had black hair and amused brown eyes. He also wore overalls with a white shirt and boots. He threw the broom back at Kaho who caught it easily. She set it down again by the wall.

"Kaoru, what are you doing here? What are you going to do this time? Write all over the statues of Inari-sama?" Kaho demanded. She didn't have time for this and most of all she wasn't sure if Kaoru would be safe here at the temple.

"Girl-hunting!" Kaoru responded with a mischievous smile. Kaho could only blink.

"What?" It was the only coherent thing that Kaho could say.

"I saw a really nice looking girl walk into the temple late last night. She past the farm and so I decided to grace you with my presence. Who is she your granddaughter?" Kaoru said in a arrogant voice. He stood proudly and smirked.

"You of all people know that my family doesn't visit me," Kaho retorted. 

"Well who was she then? Oh yeah and how old?" Kaoru asked. He slicked his black hair with one hand and smiled suavely.

".... You're actually going to try and hit on her?" Kaho asked in a deadpanned voice.

"Of course! No girl can resist me!" Kaoru said in a impressive voice and posed. It was silly and Kaho could only try and massage away her migraine that Kaoru had just inspired.

"Good grief. I know for a fact that Ruki would sooner kill you then go out with you... Oh yes and I believe she's 11 years old," Kaho answered. She hoped that Kaoru would go home now, since his curiosity would probably be satisfied.

"What? 11? A cute girl like that!" Kaoru said amazed. He frowned and then clapped his hands once, smiling.

"I'm not going to like what you're going to do next, am I?" Kaho asked in a defeated. Kaoru was a good boy but sometimes his pranks, due to boredom, were a bit much.

"I'm going to look for her! I'll ask her myself!" Kaoru said proudly and proceeded to run through the forest. Kaho's eyes widened.

"Stop you idiot! You don't know what's out there right now! It can be dangerous!" Kaho shouted. Her voice didn't slow Kaoru who was soon far away from the temple. Kaho could only rub her forehead in irritation and go inside. She pulled out an ofuda and took to it a flame.

"Lords and ladies of the forest, I beseech you to protect that young fool," Kaho whispered and watched the ofuda crackle in the flame and turn green. A small sliver of energy rose into the air and dissipate. The flame and Kaho was left in the dark and waited for the spell to go into effect.

Kaoru ran through the forest while look at the ground for tracks. He had been in this forest plenty of times and knew it like the back of his hands. He soon found what he was looking for, footprints of shoes.

'Dangerous... Yeah right,' Kaoru thought to himself. He looked at the depression and noted that the person was weighted down with something and had on a pair of well used shoes. He smiled slightly and followed the foot prints without hesitation. He never noticed the tendrils of green energy behind him trying to grasp him.

******

They hadn't expected Seiko to shout at them. She stood and looked at them in annoyance. They all felt mildly embarrassed but she had a point. They were standing around and arguing like idiots. Takato reached into his pocket and took out Abaddon's business card. The bold black print was easy to read but Takato wasn't interested in that. The table with it's half eaten food and drink became the evidence of everyone's unthinking rush to see what was wrong with the D-ark. Calm had settled and everyone became silent, thinking what to say and do.

"Can you tell what's going on Renamon?" Takato asked Renamon who was silent and pensive.

"I'm going to try," Renamon answered. Her fur was mused up and half-dry, it felt uncomfortable but Renamon had lived her entire life with discomfort. This was only a minor distraction to the battle-harden digimon. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her link with Ruki to try and discover what had happened. The strain and depth of her concentration blocked everyone out and everyone waited for her to say something.

Everything was so dark and then a brilliant flash of light as Renamon delved into the connections of the Real world and Digital world. She could see the auras of the Tamers and digimon connecting to each other but Renamon was not interested in those. She looked for her link, her line to Ruki. It was a faint, feeble and tentative light that Renamon could barely see it. This light, this line was Ruki connection Renamon, but it felt so distant and different all of a sudden. It hurt Renamon physically to strain her sense like this but yet she could feel Ruki's warm aura. She was passing over building, hills, plains, cities and such. Her sense flew over the sky and she let her mind travel, following the link to Ruki. Then the light became unbearably bright, Ruki was brimming with power that Renamon had never sensed before but she was safe. There was very little discomfort now and Renamon found herself basking in Ruki's aura. Ruki was safe and yet there was tremble of uncertainty and confusion. There was no fear but surprise. The pain for stretching her sense began to reveal them, not even Ruki's aura could prevent the inevitable pain from cutting into Renamon's mind. The strain became so great that Renamon finally had no choice but cut it. Renamon eyes opened and she fell to her knees in pain and began breathing hard for her efforts.

"Renamon, are you all right?" Jen asked concerned. Everyone kept their distance from Renamon because they knew she didn't like being crowded around. She opened her eyes painfully and forced herself to stand.

"Ruki's safe... For now but she seems baffled about something," Renamon managed to say without letting the pain of her search show in her voice.

"What happened to the digimon that was attacking her then?" Takato asked.

"I don't know. She was no longer in danger though," Renamon answered. She felt very weak and wanted collapse again but refused through blind stubborn pride.

"Do you want to sit down?" Hirokazu asked. He noticed that Renamon was wobbling slightly and looked like she was in pain. He then realized his mistake but Renamon glared at him for suggesting such a thing.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Hirokazu said backing off a bit. Sighing Renamon looked away and at Takato.

"So she's safe... But what happened..." Takato asked out loud. He sat down on the floor and looked at the card in his hands. With slow deliberation he put it back into his pocket and began to think again. Ryou looked at Takato and fingered his card as well.

"That was a bit too close... She's safe for the moment, if Renamon's right, but we need to do something soon or else there might not be much left of Ruki to save," Ryou said.

Silence reigned in the room. Monodramon looked at his Tamer Ryou expectantly. It was then that they heard in the distant an incredible boom, even the Tamers heard it. Startled, Renamon perked her ears up and listened even more closely. Terriermon heard it as well and came to the hallway.

"What was that? There's been a huge explosion," Terriermon commented. Seiko walked over briskly to the TV and turned it on. Screen came to life and showed a young looking woman with a mike standing in the rain somewhere in Tokyo.

"A large explosion has been confirmed at the Bay area where a large rabbit-like digimon has been reported to be seen attacking the water. Details are sketch at the time but people here are panicking..." The woman went on. Jen blinked in surprise at the sight of Antylamon jumping on top of various buildings and then his cell phone rang in his pocket. He turned it on.

"This is Jen... Mom? What's going on?... Calm down. What about Lopmon?... There was a bomb!!! What are you talking about?" Jen said into the phone and listened. He became quiet and listened to his mother hasty explanation.

"Someone tried to kill us Jen! They planted a bomb at the apartment but Lopmon managed to save us!" Mayumi explained over the phone. She sounded harried and strained. Rinchei and Jaarin could be heard in the background

"Where's dad?" Jen asked. He let his thoughts run into each other trying to piece together what was going on. It only increased his confusion as he asked more questions than he received answers for in his head.

"Your father's unconscious right now."

"Unconscious?! Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Sensei's house. Come over here please."

"All right mom! See you there!" Jen turned off the phone. Everyone was staring at him and he felt quite exposed at the moment. He had no idea what to think, what to do and what to say. Terriermon approached his Tamer and looked at him.

"What's wrong Jen? Did something happen?" Terriermon asked in a quiet voice. Jen looked down at his partner and sighed.

"They got attacked with a bomb or something. I don't know what's going on but we need to go Terriermon!" Jen answered. He hung up the phone and ran out the room. Terriermon chased after Jen without so much of a backwards glance. Then his cell phone began to ring again while he was in the hallway and Jen stopped to answered it. Everyone except Renamon and Seiko went into the hallway to listen to next phone call.

"Hello?" Jen said into the phone.

"So its sounds like your okay," Impmon responded.

"Impmon?" Jen asked in baffled voice.

"So glad to know that you remember me!" Impmon spat back in a sarcastic voice. His arm was killing him and it shortened his collective patience and temper. He could still hear Makoto crying and Ai trying to comfort her little brother. It broke his heart but there was nothing he could do. Kesa was dead and nothing could change that.

"What's going on?" Jen asked ignoring the sarcasm from Impmon. Everyone watched Jen's every move and word now. Jen could have sworn he could hear crying somewhere in the background of Impmon's call.

"Maybe you can tell me what you are doing! Lopmon's on TV and every human seems to be panicking! Not only that I got attacked by anther digimon!" Impmon exploded, he was galled at the seeming ignorance that Jen was showing.

"You got attacked too?" Jen asked quickly.

"Yeah and I have a dead dog for my efforts," Impmon said and looked at the covered up body of Kesa. Lightly grasping the three bullets in his hands Impmon looked down to look at them. It might have been his imagination but the bullets looked as though they were slowly melting and fading away but Impmon decided it was a trick of his eyes. He grasped the three bullets firmly in his hands.

"Look I'm going to pass you on to Takato, okay! I have to go home and see my family," Jen hurriedly explained and threw the phone to Takato who caught it.

"What? But I don't know what's going on either!" Takato said as he caught the phone from Jen but it was all ready too late. Jen ran out the room and into the hallway with Terriermon. Without pausing to grab a umbrella or any rain gear, Jen and Terriermon ran out the door into the elements, intent on heading to where the Lee family was staying at. Takato sighed and put the cell phone to his ear.

"Hey Impmon," Takato began and frowned.

"Where did smart kid go?" Impmon demanded annoyed. It seemed like every Tamer was shafting him or something. In annoyance Impmon tightened his fist a bit harder.

"Jen's gone to his family. They got attacked too. We don't know what's going on, all we know is that Lopmon digivolved to Antylamon in Shinjuku for some reason," Takato explained. The TV in the background showed that the military had finally arrived with combat helicopters to scan where Lopmon had gone. Everyone prayed that nothing bad was going to happen.

"Well my family is just as important as well! I have two big data puddles that are currently stinking up the hallway of the house, a dead dog that's in two pieces and two traumatized Tamers that are trying to get over everything that's happened! Oh yeah and a broken window and a couple bullets from some gun that killed one of the attackers! Not too mention I'm in pain and bleeding here as well!" Impmon exploded. He really didn't mean to get mad at Takato but quite frankly he needed someone to vent his anger at. Takato just happened to be the most ideal candidate at the moment. Impmon opened his hand where the bullets were and saw that they were gone. The bullets were gone from Impmon's hand and there was no marking of their passage. It was as if they never existed at all. Impmon blinked and started to look around, trying to see if he dropped them though it was impossible seeing they were in his hand just a few seconds before.

"What?..." Takato asked not quite getting what Impmon was talking about. Then he began to think about everything. Those attacked were the family of a Tamer or Tamer's themselves. Obviously the enemy didn't care if they were young or surrounded by other defenseless people. Tamer's and digimon... Juri and Culumon. Something clicked in Takato's brain.

"Juri," Takato whispered to himself in a stark realization. Then panic ensued in his mind. He was torn between his two choices now. 

"What about Juri?" Impmon asked into the phone not quite hearing what Takato said due to his frantic search for the mysterious disappeared bullets he had . Takato however didn't hear what Impmon said and tossed the phone to Hirokazu who deftly caught it.

"I have to go! Guilmon come on!" Takato said in a loud voice and barrelled straight out of the room. Guilmon, confused but eager to do anything followed after his Tamer.

"What are we going to do Takato?" Guilmon asked. Ryou shouted after the two.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Ryou asked. This was not a good thing in his mind, splitting up was the last thing that they should all consider doing if the Tamers were being attacked. Renamon came into the hallway to see Takato go.

"He's off to play the knight in shining armor..." Kenta answered for everyone. Takato charged out of the house and into the rain like Jen and Terriermon just a few moments before. Skidding and slipping, he began to run to the Katou family bar.

"Jeez, one moment he's all concerned about Ruki and the next he becomes completely concerned about Juri," Hirokazu muttered and put the phone to his ear.

"Where did Goggle head go?" Impmon demanded. He was definitely getting tired of being shafted to other Tamers for no apparent reason. He gave up searching for the bullets, they had all disappeared.

"Takato's, well gone..." Hirokazu explained in a lame voice.

"Gone!!! Oh wonderful! Can't I get any sympathy here for bleeding!" Impmon demanded.

"Bleed all you want! It can't be helped!" Hirokazu retorted.

Seiko turned to other news channels to see if there was any more information on what was going on, rather than the same recycled information that the stations were all repeating. Instead of finding any other channels with new information Seiko ran into reporters that were all either criticizing or condemning Digimon. They all were very harsh it seemed. The sounds of their voices could be heard from the hall.

"This just shows that the government can't control the obvious danger of..."

"The destruction of Shinjuku property caused by the dangerous digimon has sent citizens into panic and anger. Demanding that the organization Hypnos, do something about the digital..."

"The government denies that it is responsible for the digimon that was in the Shinjuku core but many analyst believe that the government is still going highly illegal digital research and that the digimon was result of..."

"Hypnos released a statement claiming complete ignorance of the situation, claiming that..."

Finally Seiko turned off the TV and sighed.

"It's amazing how much garbage is on TV and how little you learn on the news," Seiko commented. She looked at the group who were now silent. Hirokazu was busy talking but when he commented about bleeding Ryou blinked.

"Whose bleeding?" Ryou asked. Monodramon was not concerned with the situation at all and was busy staring out into the garden. MarineAngemon rested on Kenta's shoulders and watched Hirokazu.

"Impmon says he's bleeding... Right now he's ranting how there's a big mess in the hallway of his house," Hirokazu explained and held the phone away from his ear. Impmon was shouting into the phone in a tirade.

"That's strange... Digimon don't bleed," Ryou began and folded his arms for a second to think. He frowned and looked at Monodramon who recognized the look on his Tamer's face. With a nod Monodramon followed Ryou down the hallway.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Kenta asked and followed after Ryou for a few moments.

"I'm heading to Impmon's place. Tell me where he lives," Ryou said as he bent down to get his shoes on. Ryou needed to see this with his own eye's.

"He lives in Hongou, Chi-dasa 7342 Nichirin," Kenta said as he read out of a black book of phone numbers and addresses he kept in a pocket of his.

"Can I have that?" Ryou asked and pointed to the black book. Kenta looked reluctant but gave the book to the Legendary Tamer.

"Hey! You two aren't leaving me here are you?" Hirokazu shouted from the dining room. It seemed that he was too engrossed with arguing with Impmon to leave the room.

"No! Kenta's staying here! But I'm going to Hongou! Mind as well do something rather than sit around," Ryou explained. He grabbed his backpack and a umbrella. The rain was still pouring and he left the Makino house without another word with Monodramon.

"Penpa... Pi pape popo pipe?" MarineAngemon asked.

"I don't know but it's still a plan of action," Kenta answered. The two stood at the door way out and looked at the street.

"Great, just great! I wish Guardromon was here with me right now!" Hirokazu ranted and glared at the cell phone with Impmon on it.

"Hey... If Jen's and Impmon's family was attacked does that mean ours is going to be attacked as well?" Kenta asked. Hirokazu stopped frowning and went pale slightly. The gravity of the statement hit their brains and the first thing on their mind was to call home.

"Impmon! I have to hang up on you! Ryou and Monodramon's coming to your place! I gotta go!" Hirokazu shouted into the cell phone and hung up on Impmon. Without waiting another second Hirokazu phoned his house while Kenta went to the Makino house's telephone to call his house.

Impmon on the other end stared at the telephone and heard the dial tone.

"Thanks for nothing you stupid jerks..." Impmon muttered and slammed down the phone. He looked at the palm his hands and wondered where the spent bullets he had found went to. It was as if they vanished into thin air.

******

The rain hadn't stopped. Juri sat at a table soaking wet with a blanket wrapped around her and stared at the ground. She was cold but she didn't really care. She stared at the bloody spot where her father landed after he got wounded and let her mind wander a bit. The bar was empty now, her mother was with her little brother to clean him off and soothe his fears. Police officers that went upstairs and investigated what happened had pretty much ordered her family off the property. They would be leaving for a motel for the meanwhile. Her father had been taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital to be patched up and the two regular customers had gone home after giving statements to the police. Within two days maximum all the patrons of the bar would know about this incident, Juri predicted.

Culumon was fast asleep on a chair with a small blanket over it. There was a small bandage on Culumon's ear where it had been cut and Juri looked up to see that the diminutive little digimon was cute when it slept. Eyes closed and lightly snoring Juri couldn't help but make a small appreciative smile for Culumon's bravery this night. He looked so cute sleeping there exhausted.

Looking at the table she saw the three-quarter filled sake bottle and looked at it with a tantalizingly stare. Juri hands were still somewhat white with shock but they were getting their color back, but most of all Juri really wanted a good stiff drink to calm her nerves. She looked around the empty bar furtively and then back at the bottle. She would have one drink. No, she needed to have just one drink to calm her nerves. The police officers were all busy upstairs and such and no one was around to catch her drinking. Hesitantly Juri took the bottle into her hands and poured it into a cup. Then without hesitation she picked up the cup and threw back her head like a professional and drank the alcohol without gagging. 

Takato ran through the rain thoroughly soaked. His hair was completely wet but he ignored it completely and forged ahead. The Katou family bar was just ahead and there was two police cruisers parked in front. Takato found his stomach tie itself into knots and forced his legs to go faster. His mind came up with innumerable theories of what had happened. Guilmon ran beside Takato just as quickly and felt cold. He sneezed mid stride and almost fell over when he tripped over something in the rain.

"I'm coming Juri," Takato said to himself.

Meanwhile in the bar, the familiar bitter taste of smooth alcohol greeted Juri's mouth and she put the cup back down on the table. Waiting for a few moments, she let the alcohol hit her brain and the warmth spread from her stomach and outwards. It felt nice and Juri looked at the bottle again debating whether she should have another drink. She saw no reason not to have another drink, she had drank more alcohol in one sitting than this. Juri therefore reached for the bottle and poured it into the cup again. She picked up the cup again and brought to her lips and threw down the drink like she did before without a problem. She then had a third and then a fourth drink.

'One more time...' Juri promised herself and poured another drink into the cup. She was about to drink it again but the door to the bar burst open revealing a thoroughly soaked Takato and Guilmon.

"Juri!" Takato said out loud and blinked. He saw Juri with a bottle of sake in one hand and a filled cup with another that was about reach her mouth. Juri quickly put down the bottle and cup onto the table but managed to wake Culumon up.

"Hmm? Something wrong, culu?" Culumon asked sleepily. He got up and rubbed his eyes to get some sleep out.

"Nothing Culumon," Juri said quickly and blushed in embarrassment. Takato came into the bar wet with Guilmon.

"Um, Juri why were you drinking?" Takato asked curiously. He came to the table and looked at Juri who was blushing.

"I just needed a drink, that's all," Juri explained. Culumon however noticed that the bottle was not three-quarters full anymore. In fact now it was one-third full and Juri breath smelt a bit like sake.

"Juri, culu? How much did you drink? There was three-fourth's a bottle left last time I looked," Culumon pointed out. Juri blushed in embarrassment even more and giggled slightly.

"So it was Culumon...So it was," Juri answered, nodding happily. Takato went up to her and took the bottle away and capped it. Juri could only pout while Takato kneeled down and went eye level with her.

"Juri... What happened?" Takato asked softly. His voice was full of concern and compassion. Juri breath got caught in her throat when she looked at him straight in the eye. He looked so caring and loving, the hidden crazed look he had was no where to be seen. He seemed like the boy he once was two years ago, the one that was completely fanatical about digimon and drew them while in class. There was no pain of loss in his eyes, no realization of how close he was to losing his friends to death or anything heavy on his soul. It seemed like a step back to a time before. Before Juri could answer, someone came down the stairs to the main bar area. It was a police officer who was surprised to see Takato near Juri but most of all he was surprised to see Guilmon.

"Oh crap! It's a digimon! Ogura! Takamura! Get down here!" The police officer shouted and pulled his gun on Guilmon. Guilmon jumped around in surprise and tried to see where the digimon was, then realized the police officer was talking about him.

"Um... Are you talking about me? I'm not a digimon! I'm Guilmon, nice to meet you," Guilmon said in a polite voice. His tail wagged like a dog and looked at Takato confused.

"No wait! It's all right! He's a friend!" Takato said stepping in front of the police officer's gun with his arms widespread. The sake bottle was still in his hand but he forgot all about it.

"Oh no, culu," Culumon stated and got on his feet with his eyes wide. The police officer noticed Culumon standing up.

"Oh God! The stuffed animal just talked!" Police officer stated panicked. He pointed his gun at Culumon but Juri grabbed Culumon and held him in her arms. Meanwhile two more police officers barrelled down the stairs and held their guns out. Juri's mother and a now cleaned off Masahiko came out from a door to see the stand off. Guilmon was behind Takato while Juri protected Culumon.

"Get out of the way kid! You got a monster behind you," the police officer ordered. He kept his gun trained on Guilmon.

"I won't! Guilmon's done nothing wrong! You have no right!" Takato answered back. Juri could see the hidden side come out from Takato's eyes. It was somewhat crazed and desperate now. He could not accept losing another friend and would gladly give his life away for Guilmon's sake. Juri got up from her seat and backed away from the police officers towards Takato and the exit.

"Stop where you are!" The police officer ordered.

"We'll just leave! Come on Guilmon!" Takato said and turned around. He grabbed Juri by the hand took her out the door. They all ran out the door and into the rain. Juri's mother walked to the door and stood in front of it, blocking the police officers way before they could give chase.

"You are in the way ma'am!" The police officer said in a exasperated voice. Masahiko stood in the main bar room afraid of the potentially explosive situation.

"I'm not in the way. I won't let you take those digimon away. They are completely innocent. Shame on you for pulling your gun out on children!" Mrs. Katou scolded the three men.

"I'm sorry ma'am. We're ordered to take any digimon as a severe threat to public safety," the police officer explained.

"They are not dangerous! Culumon's the most harmless digimon in the world!" Masahiko exploded. He came right next to his mother by the doorway and stood by her side. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who in the world could imagine Culumon as a severe threat to public safety. Now if they regarded the ugly digimon that attacked him tonight, then he would understand.

"Ma'am, if you don't move out of the way. I'll have you arrested for obstruction of justice," the police officer politely informed Mrs. Katou. She however ignored the warning and implied threat.

"I will not move," she said in a even voice. She extended her arms and grasped the sides of the door.

"All right men... We'll take the back door," the police officer said after a few seconds of consideration. The three police officers turned around and went through the bar's kitchen and went through the door out there. Juri's mother relaxed and looked weary. Masahiko could only look up to his mother with his eyes.

"Is Juri and Culumon going to be all right?" Masahiko asked.

"I don't know... But Matsuda-san is with him, so it should be all right," Mrs. Katou said to her son. She gathered Masahiko into her arms and hugged him. It was insane and all but Mrs. Katou couldn't help but feel that the fact that Juri used to be a tamer was somehow related to attack on Masahiko.

Juri and Takato with Culumon and Guilmon ran through the rain blindly. They weren't sure where they were heading but all agreed that they had to get away from the police and hide their digimon. Locations to hide themselves were numerous but without realizing it, they all choose one and were running to the park. The rain beat down on them, but Takato barely noticed it and kept on running with Juri's hand in his. Juri could barely keep up but managed to match Takato's pace. Takato ran ahead of her with the sake bottle still in his other hand. They ran into the park and down the tree lined path to Guilmon's old 'house' in the greenery. They charged up the steps without pausing and threw open the iron gates of the place. The inside was still dry and the portal to the digital world was still there, still under the place and could be reached via a hole dug many months ago by Guilmon.

"I think we'll be safe here," Takato said in a wheezing voice and let go of Juri's hand which he had held on to for the entire run. He was leaned on the wall to catch his breath while Juri sat on the cold ground tired with Culumon in her arms. She was out of breath herself and concentrated on calming down her heart.

"I never expected the police to try and do that," Juri managed to say. Takato heard and lifted his arm up to see that he was still holding the capped sake bottle in his hand.

"... Neither did I... But why were they there?" Takato asked facing Juri who cradled a wet Culumon who got out of her arms to shake the water out of his fur. Takato then noticed the bandage on Culumon's ear and was immediately baffled.

"... Masahiko... My little brother... He got attacked by a digimon. Culumon tried to protect him but it was too strong," Juri explained. She didn't reveal all the details because of her fear of Abaddon fulfilling his threat. Juri was in no position to protect her little brother if Abaddon heard of her telling Takato of his involvement.

"It was scary, culu. He hit me but I'm all right. Juri fixed me right up!" Culumon proclaimed and came to Juri who began to shiver from the cold. Takato realized that they both needed to find dry clothing. He put the sake bottle in his hand down on the ground and went up to Juri.

"It was horrible... I thought I was going to lose them both in the attack. I... I attacked the digimon with a knife and stabbed in the back... It bled black data," Juri said faintly. The memory of the black viscous liquid from Kumon onto her hand was something she rather not remember. Takato kneeled down and gently placed his hands on hers.

"It's all right Juri... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Takato said in a soothing voice. He however was angry over it. Who or what would attack Juri and her family of all people? She had suffered enough and didn't need any more things to come and ruin her life. Then Ruki, wherever she was, attacked or at least was confronted by a digimon. Impmon calling to report that he had been attacked and his family harmed. And finally Jen and his family was attacked mysteriously. The mysterious string of attacks only had one thing in common. There was a digimon or they were tamers and the enemy obviously didn't care about casualties or deaths. Takato's blood boiled and felt his hand reach down into his pocket for the business card that Abaddon had given him. Something needed to be done and it needed to done now.

"Abaddon, I need to see you!" Takato said as he ripped up the business card. The silence of the room became apparent and the wind could be heard whistling as rain pitter-pattered outside.

"So you have called for me?" Abaddon's voice rolled out into the air. Takato turned around and looked around the room. Finally in one corner of the darken 'house' a pair of glowing eyes could be seen. One blue and one green glowed and stared at Takato.

"I want to make a deal! We're being attacked," Takato explained curtly. The sooner this was done with, the better. Takato could feel the uncomfortable aura that Abaddon was radiating. Abaddon simply smiled ever so slightly and looked at Juri with glimmering eyes. Juri turned away and Takato noticed Abaddon staring at her and stepped in Abaddon's view.

"Ah, yes the attacks that are happening on your families. What do you want me to do specifically?" Abaddon asked in a business tone. Takato felt irritated and uncomfortable with the situation. Why was Abaddon staring at Juri like that? Moreover how did Abaddon know about the attacks? The question seemed rather stupid since Abaddon seemed to know exactly what was going on. Not that Abaddon would tell him or anyone for free.

"I want to know who is attacking us and where Ruki is," Takato explained. Abaddon remained silent for a few seconds. His eyes glowing in the darkness like a cat and let the silence stretch before breaking it.

"That is all? Don't you want the attacks to be prevented? I could do that and there would only be an slight increase in the price," Abaddon pointed out. He said it slowly as considering all his options and counter suits if Takato said something else.

"I'll consider if I know what the price of the deal is," Takato answered back. Abaddon paused for a moment and reached into his trench coat to pull out a piece of paper.

"The price of deal is only three things. One, I receive in the future a favor from you specifically. Second, you and your fellow Tamers will not interfere in my business for one month. That means you cannot attack me or my partners or employees, etc. Thirdly, I require that you sign this agreement to verify your willingness to this deal," Abaddon smoothly explained. He lifted the paper up to allow Takato to see it.

"That's all?" Takato asked suspiciously. Abaddon simply nodded and gave Juri a rather nasty smile.

"Yes, that's all unless you want me to do more for you," Abaddon answered. Takato felt like wiping Abaddon's smile off his face but resisted. Takato had no idea why Abaddon was looking at Juri in such a way. Juri didn't look at Abaddon in the face and that made Takato's budding paranoia go into new heights.

"What if I break the agreements you told me?" Takato asked. Abaddon seemed to smile at the question.

"I get to kill one of your loved ones. I'll be nice and let you decide which one I get to kill first," Abaddon said. Takato felt disgusted and glared at Abaddon.

"Are you threatening me? How do I know that you're not the one whose planning all the attacks on us?" Takato asked back pointedly. Abaddon could only smile and remain silent to Takato's question.

"So do we have a deal?" Abaddon asked innocently. He decided answering Takato's question would reveal too much of what he knew and would drive Takato insane.

"No!" Takato shouted. Juri stood up besides Takato and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Lives hang in the balance... It all depends on your answer. I'll ask again. Do we have a deal?"

Takato found himself unable to answer. The price didn't seem all to high and yet there was something about the entire thing that just didn't make him feel comfortable. Information was vital to their problem, they were completely blind and Abaddon was their only source of information.

"I'll accept but I have to tell you I don't like you one little bit," Takato muttered and glared at Abaddon.

"Whether you like me or not, Mr. Matsude is none of my business," Abaddon replied and threw the paper to Takato where it hung in mid air. A pen suddenly appeared at Takato's side. It surprised Takato who glared at the piece of paper before taking the pen and signing along the dotted lines of the agreement. After signing the paper it spilt into two separate parts. One flew back to Abaddon who neatly put it back into his trench coat and the other remained where Takato was standing.

"That bit of the agreement is yours. It is time for my end of the bargain," Abaddon began. Takato took the signed paper into his hands and held it. The rain outside began to subside a bit.

"Well?"

"You are being attacked by a being called "Yllas". An ancient, if insane, being that absorbs the souls of others to try and become god. It believes that Ruki is the 'essence' it needs to take itself to the next plain. It seems to feel that you are in it's way thus it's trying to eliminate you and your friends.... Next question is on Makino Ruki. She's staying near Hikawa forest. There's a temple nearby around that area. I'll give you a map," Abaddon smoothly. He took out a map from his trench coat and gave it Takato who unravelled it to see a detailed map of the route needed to be taken.

"That's all?" Takato asked. Abaddon walked past Takato and Juri to the gate out of Guilmon's house. The rain had finally stopped and Abaddon paused to look up into the cloudy sky.

"What else did you expect Mr. Matsuda? I did my half of the bargain, I told you what is attacking you and where Makino Ruki is. That is all that you required me to do," Abaddon stated and pushed the gate open let himself out. In the open air Abaddon faded into the darkness, leaving the group silent.

"... Come on... Let's go to Ruki's place and get changed. We'll tell everyone what we've done..." Takato said and held Juri's hands. There was a sort of defeated voice that quivered in Takato's voice. He didn't want to deal with Abaddon but the information given was desperately needed, he just hoped that they never had to run into Abaddon again.

***(Prior to that)***

Jen was getting soaked as he ran through the rain. His shirt and pants stuck to his body like a second skin and Terriermon's fur was becoming increasingly heavy.

"Why are you on my head instead of running besides me?" Jen asked annoyed. Terriermon's weight seemed to multiplied the longer Jen ran in the rain.

"Well everyone's panicking about digimon around the city and all, so I thought it would be best if I pretend to be a stuffed animal," Terriermon explained. The street they were on was completely empty, not to mention Terriermon knew they were in a fairly secluded part of the city. Terriermon really didn't feel like running and decided to let Jen do the leg work. 

Jen muttered in annoyance and kept on running in the rain. He had not forgotten his vow to buy Terriermon frilly clothing for Shuichon to play with. Barrelling straight ahead without stopping, Jen was so focused on his destination that he failed to take into account on how to stop. Seeing Sensei's house, he pushed the speed of his run and then tried to stop quickly at the door. Normally on dry ground, Jen's shoes would grip the street well enough to stop but since it was wet they slipped. Jen and Terriermon's eyes widened as they began sliding the street and into a wall that had some garbage cans. Jen hit the wall face first as did Terriermon and they both began to slid down in a daze and into the knocked over garbage cans they accidentally upset as they crashed.

"Nice going Jen," Terriermon said in a slightly sick voice.

"Shut up..." Jen said in a nasal voice and gripped his nose. Luckily it wasn't broken but it hurt like the dickens. 

"Jian Liang?" A man's voice asked confused. Jen turned around and saw Sensei Wong standing there with a umbrella right at the entrance of the house. It seemed that he had been waiting there for awhile and saw what had happened.

"Sensei," Jen said in a ridiculous nasal voice. He wrinkled his face in disbelief and just nodded to avoid sounding even more ridiculous.

"Come in, your father just woke up," Sensei Wong said and opened the door for Jen to come in. Terriermon followed in but before entering he shook his fur like a dog to get water out of it. Terriermon did surprisingly well and Jen blinked. Terriermon noted that look on his face and glared back.

"Don't you dare make any sort of jokes about that!" Terriermon said in a testy voice and came inside the house, damp but otherwise a lot drier than he would have been. Jen shrugged and sneezed as he came into the house. He was soaked and his older sister Jaarin stood in the hallway with two towels for the two.

"Here you go you two. You better come in here soon, mom's going a bit nuts..." Jaarin said in a slightly tired voice.

"That time of month?" Terriermon said jokingly. Jen could only glare at Terriermon since talking would only reveal he's nasal voice to his older sister.

"... More like it's happening all over again.... Your turn to teach Shuichon the facts of life Jen," Jaarin answered jokingly. Jen's eyes widened and made a slight strangled noise. Terriermon however just didn't get what Jaarin was talking about or why Jen looked rather pale.

"Gak... You have got to be kidding me! What was dad thinking?" Jen said in a strangled nasal voice. Jaarin blinked and began giggling at the sound of Jen's voice.

"I heard that!" Janyuu called from a room within the house. He had just gotten up and noticed that he had a splitting headache, not mention he had a bandage wrapped around his head. Then he remembered something very urgent and went over to a pile of bags. He was busy looking at the bags of Chinese food that he had bought at Paolin and saw what he had feared. The egg fuumai in spicy black bean sauce had gone cold. His wife took that moment to walk into the room he was in and saw him awake.

"Janyuu! Thank god you're all right!" Mayumi said in a loud voice and went up to hug him. She began sobbing and held her husband in a rather uncomfortable position. His hands were above his head and held the egg fuumai up. Janyuu couldn't lower his arms because his wife was in the way.

"It's all right Mayumi... Could you back off a bit?" Janyuu asked. Mayumi misunderstood what Janyuu meant however.

"Back off a bit?" Mayumi said angrily and let go of Janyuu. Normally she wouldn't be so hysterical but pregnancy, almost losing her life due to an attack and getting kicked out of their apartment was a bit much for her take. 

"No... That's not what I meant!... I mean... I bought you, your favorite dish, egg fuumai but it went cold," Janyuu explained apologetically. Mayumi's angry face disappeared in a flash and she began instead to start tearing up. Janyuu felt helpless and watched two solitary tears fall from his wife's face. His hands were still above his head.

"I don't care about the egg fuumai, you stupid idiot!" Mayumi said and hugged her husband again. Janyuu was surprised and lost his grip on the food he had in his hands. The egg fuumai dropped onto the floor and before Janyuu could say anything else, his wife kissed him passionately on the lips. Janyuu slowly lowered his arms and kissed his wife back. They probably would have gone further but Terriermon, Jen and Sensei Wong however walked in on the two.

"Aye Carumba!" Terriermon mouthed and went bug-eyed by the sight.

"Ah... Janyuu..." Sensei Wong coughed lightly while Jen simply blushed at the sight. Mayumi and Janyuu disentangled themselves.

"Jen!" Janyuu managed to say and looked down at the floor at the mess the egg fuumai made on Sensei Wong's floor.

"Did you get mom pregnant again?" Jen asked and felt glad that his voice no longer sounded so nasally. Terriermon however upon the word 'pregnant' gagged. Staring at Mayumi with frightened eyes, Terriermon slowly approached Mayumi and poked her gently in the stomach. He noted that it was distended a bit. Jen however grabbed Terriermon away.

"So... They told you?" Janyuu asked. He laughed weakly but was rather embarrassed.

"Holy... crap... WE'RE DOOMED! I DON'T WANT ANY MORE LITTLE KIDS PLAYING WITH ME! TELL ME THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!!" Terriermon began hyperventilating and looking at Mayumi with wild eyes. He struggled in Jen's grip but Jen held fast.

"Yeah, I heard. Why aren't you at the apartment if the bomb didn't blow up there?" Jen asked as he struggled with Terriermon.

"... Oh... That... We got kicked out by the landlord. We have a week to remove our things from the apartment. On the bright side this is the perfect excuse to go find a bigger place to live in," Mayumi explained as she kept her eyes on Terriermon.

"WHAT!" Janyuu and Jen said both at the same time.

"Why?" Janyuu and Jen asked at the same time. The two men looked at each other unsure. This was shocking news to them and it wasn't exactly welcomed. Terriermon slipped out of Jen's grasp and ran into a closet laughing maniacally where everyone could hear muffled giggling, screaming and otherwise less than sane rants and such. Sensei Wong blinked and the rest of the Lee family came to the room wondering what the shouting was about. Reika was with her child Katsuyo in her arms, also came to the room to listen. She had decided to stay with the Lee's for the moment since Yamaki had headed straight for Hypnos.

"Well, first of all people reported in Lopmon and second the landlord panicked so he evicted us," Mayumi tried to explain in a soothing voice.

"Don't worry Janyuu. You're welcomed to stay here as long as you need to until you find a new place to live," Sensei Wong explained. His serene voice was a stark contrast to the muffled voice of Terriermon.

"Today class we are going to learn something called 'protection during sexual intercourse'. Now can anyone tell me why people should take care to wear protection? No one knows? Well it's because the woman won't get pregnant and sic even more children on Terriermon who will now spend the rest of his life in a closet for the next ten years!" Terriermon shouted from the closet though it was muffled. Reika rolled her eyes, went up to the closet and opened the door where Terriermon was hiding under a jacket and shuddering.

"Do you want to play with the rabbit Katsuyo?" Reika asked her son cutely. Katsuyo looked fairly disturbed at the sight of Terriermon ranting and shaking and shook his head to say no to his mother. No matter what people said about Katsuyo, they have to remember that he is an unusually smart baby and there was no way he was going near an obviously crazy digimon, no matter how cute and cuddly it looked. Terriermon however didn't see Katsuyo shake his head to say no and only heard what Reika said. Turning around quickly he ran through Reika's legs and ran into the bathroom. An audible click could be heard as he locked the door and sound of a shower could be heard running.

"Great... Is it a boy or a girl?" Jen asked his mother trying to ignore Terriermon's actions.

"I'm hoping for one of each," Mayumi said idly. Jen however blinked and then it hit him.

"You're going to have twins!?.... Dad I hope you find a really big house with lots of room then," Jen said as he rubbed his forehead. Terriermon in the bathroom heard the comment of twins and began singing in the shower.

"Never ran from the truth or hid from the past. But baby you drive me mad. Alone in the corner, far from the window. I still see you haunting these dreams of mine. You make go crazy, you make me go psycho. But know what I will never break you faith!" Terriermon sang out loud. It sounded rather hysterical then silence. The shower was turned off and the sound of cloth swishing around could be heard. The door unlocked and Terriermon walked out calmly and in silence. Jen just waited and Terriermon climbed up on Jen's head. He remained there a bit shell shocked it seemed and laid on Jen's head in silence. Dried, clean and strangely disturbing, everyone was silent themselves. The blank look on Terriermon's face simply unnerved everyone including Shuichon and Katsuyo.

"... I think he went catatonic Jen," Rinchei commented. Katsuyo in his mother's arms, was near Terriermon and frowned. He reached over and petted Terriermon on the head lightly, like a cat who was about to bite his hands off.

"Um... Terriermon?... Terriermon?" Jen asked in a curious voice. There was no response and Terriermon stared straight ahead with a small demented little smile.

"Look on the bright side... Lopmon has to suffer as well..." Jen said with a weak laugh. Katsuyo cocked his head to the side and looked at Terriermon in the eye. Terriermon couldn't help but notice how similar Katsuyo and Abaddon were, the only difference was that Katsuyo had blue eyes and brown hair rather than one green and one blue eyes and blond hair. The similarity in fact caused Terriermon to stir a bit.

"I still can't believe you managed to divest CLM of his virginity... How long did it take?" Terriermon asked. Reika could only blush while Jen cringed. Katsuyo pulled his hands away from Terriermon when he spoke.

"What kind of question is that?" Jen said embarrassed. Terriermon became more and more convinced there was a connection between Yamaki and Abaddon.

"Hey... Can you tell me Yamaki has an illegitimate child out there? Who else has he gotten jiggy with?" Terriermon asked in a serious voice. The mental lapse into a coma was forgotten.

"What? CLM?" Reika could only say blinking.

"What are you talking about Terriermon?" Jen asked annoyed. 

"Cigarette lighter man... Look at Katsuyo, Jen... Doesn't he remind you of a certain trench coat wearing, creepy, card carrying kid?" Terriermon asked and went up to Katsuyo who looked baffled as to why the two were looking at him.

"Why are you asking something like that?" Reika asked. Jen looked at Katsuyo closely and had to admit that there was a uncanny physical resemblance between Katsuyo, Yamaki and Abaddon.

"Now that you mention it... He does look sort of like Abaddon..." Jen admitted.

"Abaddon? Whose Abaddon?" Janyuu asked his son. Everyone waited for Jen to explain. Jen could only frown and sigh.

"This is going to take awhile to explain..." Jen began.


	12. The Domino effect

The scenes listed take place a bit before Takato's dealing with Abaddon (i.e Sen). It is what the other's are doing before the rain ends and such.

Current year is 2004 somewhere around June.

****

Pacta sunt servanda Pacts should be respected

Essay taken from this page. I take no sort of credit for it at all.   
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/n/nihilism.htm

__

Never noticed the difference  
Never noticed the change  
Maybe I didn't care?  
Maybe I didn't see?  
Maybe I was just too full of hate?  
Maybe I was just too full of fear?  
Dreams never did make sense.  
Reality even less.  
By Minagata Yamato, 1985-2002

Ruki was used to seeing a lot of weird things in her life. They ranged from going into a different world to saving the world to merging with a digimon to become one being. She could now add another strange thing to her list of 'weird things that I've experienced' in her journal when she got home. It was now going to categorically called in her brain, relatives that you thought you never had and are probably not human. Or something similar but Ruki wasn't really picky on the title at this moment.

"I just said we're your relatives," the young girl with wildly spiked green hair said smiling. Ruki tried to equate the word relative to the punkish looking girl in a kimono. It didn't really seem to make sense.

"Relatives..." Ruki repeated. Her mind boggled and tried to think of any possible way that these people surround her could possible be her relatives.

It still didn't make any sort of sense. Then again life seldom did. The sky was now darkening rapidly and in the distant black ominous clouds promised rain tonight. The forest was silent, not a single bird or insect chirped and the wind was picking up causing whistling noise and whooshed through the mountain.

"What's wrong with you?" The girl asked. She smiled cutely and bent over to look at Ruki a bit closer.

"Nothing at all! I just took a little merry jaunt in the woods after something I wondered if I just hallucinated. Then I get attacked by two butt ugly digimon and not get killed. Then I manage to kill one and rip another's arm off. Then she appears and kills one, then you all appear out of nowhere. Oh and not to mention you go around and start claiming your my relatives!" Ruki listed off sarcastically. No one in the circle seemed the least bit intimidated. The old man with the pipe simply puffed more tobacco smoke into the air. The smell of it irritated Ruki's senses and made her a bit confused. The color was purple but Ruki didn't notice, she was too busy looking at the little girl in front of her.

"Now, that's not very nice. My name is Ninako and I think you should be a little more polite to me," Ninako said in a amused tone.

"Why should I?" Ruki retorted in a challenging voice. Ninako just smiled and placed her hands behind her back for a moment.

"Because I have your backpack and I'm not giving it back," Ninako answered with mischievous smile. From behind her back, she pulled out Ruki's battered backpack.

"Where did you..." Ruki began and looked around. She noticed she had indeed no longer possessed her backpack and that it had fallen off during her battle against the two digimon.

"Now, young lady are you going to listen to me?" Ninako asked in a surprisingly mature voice rather than overly cute and childish one. Ruki mentally blinked.

"What are you talking about? Your hardly older than eight!" Ruki snarled but Ninako smiled and that made Ruki feel very uncomfortable.

"I'll have you know that I'm 29 years old and that I am your aunt," Ninako said in an amused voice. Ruki's mind boggled at the thought and she came to a conclusion.

"You're insane," Ruki said. The smell of tobacco smoke was starting to get to her. It made her feel light headed and then she felt something warm. It was pushing away the confusion Ruki was feeling. Ruki blinked and reached into her back pocket and pulled out Kaho's charm. It was glowing faintly and the tobacco smoke dissipated without problems.

"Oh ho. So she's protected," the old man said impressed. He eyed the charm warily and continued to puff on his pipe without stopping. Five of the people in the circle backed off from Ruki a bit and waited for a second. A small stirring of leaves surrounded their feet and they seemed to shrink and morph. Ruki watched fascinated as five of the people began to mould themselves into red furred foxes. Only three out of the eight in the circle remained in their human forms.

"What the hell?" Ruki said agitated. She decided to add another heading in her brain about the weird things that head happened to her. Perhaps the title would be 'lycanthropes' in her journal. The elegant looking woman in her kimono approached Ruki without saying a word. Her purple eyes scanned Ruki carefully before stopping a few meters away from Ruki.

"So... You are Makino Ruki? Correct?" The woman asked in a controlled voice. Her purple eyes scanned Ruki again and her hands were at her sides. Ruki however didn't feel the least bit safe around this woman.

"And you are?" Ruki asked suspiciously. Perhaps she would awake in the morning and discover that everything was just a strange dream of sorts.

"I am Makino Harumi... I'm your grandmother," Harumi told her. Ruki could only blink and back away from the woman even more.

"Okay, this is insane! I'm supposed to believe any of this?" Ruki snarled.

"Sheesh. Your eldest son seemed to have begetted a little hellion," the old man said in an amused voice.

"Oh and what the hell are you? My fairy god father?" Ruki asked spinning around to face the old man. Ninako took this opportunity to jump on Ruki's back.

"She really is cute Oro," Ninako said while letting her hand run through Ruki's long hair. Ruki reacted by trying to throw Ninako off her back.

"Get off!" Ruki snarled and tried to grab Ninako but failed to get a grasp on her.

"Why?" Ninako asked in a disturbingly adult like voice. Ruki could have sworn that Ninako was getting bigger and heavier for some strange reason. Ruki growled and managed to get Ninako off her back but the price of Ninako grabbing the charm out of her hand.

"Hey!" Ruki responded and whirled around to beat the crap out of Ninako. She didn't care if the little kid was obviously insane or anything. She wanted the charm back. The sight that greeted Ruki was that of an older woman in a brightly colored kimono with the same laughing purple eyes and outrageously spiked and green dyed hair. There was no little girl any where for Ruki to see. Ruki mind boggled for a third time.

"Neat little thing you have here," Ninako said and began playing with the charm. The adult Ninako was quite well developed in terms assets. Or at least that was what Kaoru thought when he arrived, he hide himself in the bushes and watched. He could now die a happy man knowing he was gazing upon beauty. He smiled noting the red haired girl he saw last night looking a little worse for wear. He had just arrived and it looked like he was into for a good little show. Ruki readied herself and charged forward to grab the charm that Ninako had just stolen.

"Give that back you little prick!" Ruki said annoyed. Rushing forward quickly Ruki tried to grapple Ninako and take the charm away. Time seemed to slow as Ruki ran forward and it looked like Ninako was slow as molasses. Ruki could only smile a bit, this was going to be easy. It was then Ninako burst into a flurry of activity and Ruki was caught off guard. Ninako charged forward just as fast and Ruki thought that they were going to crash into each other at the speed they were moving, Ninako however veered to the right just in time while tripping Ruki. The momentum of the surge forward and then the abrupt trip sent Ruki flying forward off balance.

Kaoru was in awe as he watched Ruki fly into the air. He almost couldn't see what Ruki did as she ran forward. He watched Ruki as she roughly landed in a small stream of water and get mud all over her body. He also noted that he was no longer secure in his little hiding place. Standing right behind him was Harumi who was looked down at him when he turned his around his head to see what was standing over him.

"Um... Hi... Um... heh," Kaoru began pathetically and smiled. He knew the look on the woman's face from anywhere. He got it so many times from his mother, father, Kaho and his neighbours all too often. It was a 'what are you doing here' sort of like that usually meant he was in trouble.

"... Hi..." Harumi said and picked Kaoru up by the scruff of his neck easily. She walked up with one of her arms forward and holding Kaoru by the scruff of his neck like a puppy.

"Ouch! Hey!" Kaoru sputtered as he was lifted and walked out from his hiding place. He had no idea how the old woman found him, much less sneak up on him so easily. Ruki however didn't notice Kaoru being pretty much carried in by Harumi and was too busy trying to get the mud out of her eyes. She staggered onto her feet and shook her head a bit .

Thoughts of seriously harming Ninako immediately came to mind and that was when Ruki felt a burning pain on her neck. She then saw Oro standing beside Ruki with his pipe which embers were actually burning her skin.

"OUCH!" Ruki said and tried slapping away Oro's pipe. She gripped the back of her neck in pain and was about to kick Oro where it counted by missed as the old man simply sidestepped Ruki's attack. Ruki looked down at Oro's feet and realized that he wasn't standing in the stream, Oro was actually standing above the water and not even getting his feet wet. Oro jumped away from Ruki into the air and did a flip where he morphed into a silver furred fox with five tail and gracefully landed on his feet.

Harumi dropped Kaoru on the ground and walked away from him. She too began to morph into a fox and became a golden furred one with three tails. Kaoru eyes widened at what he saw while Ruki gripped the back of her neck in pain not comprehending why they were retreating.

"Don't worry Ruki-chan! You'd make your father proud!" Ninako said as she began morphing into a red fox. The charm disappeared into thin air as did Ruki's backpack which was no longer anywhere in sight.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Ruki asked as she tried to massage away the pain on her neck.

The group of eight foxes didn't answer and ran into the forest. Ruki was about run after them but she tripped over something and fell face first into the stream again. Pushing herself up from the mud a second time, Ruki seethed with anger and practically glowed with energy. She looked down at her feet and saw that her shoelaces somehow had been tied together.

"Hey are you all right?" Kaoru asked getting up from his spot and walked to Ruki. He was about to reach down and help her up but Ruki glared at him with barely restrained disgust. He stopped himself before touching her.

"Don't touch me, unless you don't want to father children," Ruki threatened and got out of the stream by dragging herself out. She began to untie her shoe lace and ignored Kaoru. Kaoru was simply amazed, who knew the old legends of people changing into foxes were real. Did that mean that Kaho had been always right with her legends?

"Um...So... They're your relatives?" Kaoru began nervously. Hell why was he talking to her? After seeing people turning into animals and have a fight that was too fast for the naked eye to see, Kaoru thought he would be more terrified or at least something other than apathy. Ruki looked pissed and wondered why he was exactly risking the girl's wrath for absolutely no reason. She may of looked cute and such but she looked more then prepared to kill him. Kaho was right it seemed, she didn't look the type who enjoyed being hit on. Ruki however continued to ignore him.

"Um, well I'm Irami Kaoru... I live in one of the farms from here...." Kaoru continued while his brain told him to leave the girl alone. Ruki gritted her teeth and got up from her spot. She was dirty, wet, lost her backpack and was angry. How was she going to go home now? Her backpack had her ticket, money, everything that she needed. Ruki was completely unwilling to return to Kaho and admit that she was wrong to run into Hikawa forest.

"Um... I don't know about you... But I think it's going to rain," Kaoru said in a sheepish voice. He had looked up into the darkening sky and saw black rolling clouds. As if on cue the rain began falling lightly. That wasn't so bad in Ruki's mind and she started walking away from Kaoru.

"Hey! I heard on the radio it's going to be a rainstorm!" Kaoru informed Ruki. On that thunder was heard booming and the wind and rain picked up after Kaoru's announcement and began drenching the two. Kaoru followed after Ruki through the rain and grabbed her hand.

"Don't touch me," Ruki said in a low voice and pulled her hand away from Kaoru's. He looked surprised and backed off from Ruki when she started to glare at him. The rain was coming down and the wind pelted them. The forest swayed and rolled like a wave.

"I know a place! We can stay there for a moment!" Kaoru shouted over the raging wind. Ruki looked up and was blinded by the rain. Her senses were clouded now and she was hungry as hell. Kaoru didn't wait for Ruki to answer and began walking into the brush of the forest.

"It's over here! Come on!" Kaoru shouted to Ruki. Ruki only glanced at him and then walked into a completely different direction away from him.

"You idiot! The winds here are really strong!" Kaoru shouted to Ruki but was lost in the wind. He was nervous about it all. He knew that the winds on this mountain could reach up to seventy kilometers every hour or more. The radio's weather report had warned them of a unexpected rainstorm with strong wind. Ruki however soon disappeared into the forest. Kaoru debated what to do, it was none of his damn business if a stupid crazy city girl decided to walk into a maelstrom.

'Damn me and my conscience,' Kaoru muttered to himself and ran after Ruki. He didn't notice that there was some strange wisp of green mist sticking to his legs as he ran through the forest to find Ruki. All he did notice was how the wind was not really pressing against him.

The trees of the forest swayed from the sudden arrival of the storm. Ruki found it very hard to move because of the wind and tried to bat away the branches that kept on moving because of the wind. She would be damned if she accepted that boy's help after being so humiliatingly beaten. Hell, Ninako wasn't even trying and she beat Ruki without problem. Rain blinded Ruki but it was rather warm. The red arches that led up to the temple could be seen from where Ruki was standing now. Kaoru slogged through the rain and wind without problem and quickly caught up with Ruki. He was surprised how he wasn't getting slowed down but didn't really bother finding out why. That girl, Ruki, needed to get in and the temple was only a few steps up.

"You stupid girl!" Kaoru said harshly and tried to grab Ruki by the arm.

"Don't touch me!" Ruki snarled wondering how Kaoru managed to find her so quickly.

"Sorry! But we need to get inside and get dry!" Kaoru shouted over the wind. The rain may have been warm but the wind was freezing cold. Ruki felt her neck prick with pain and gripped it with one of her hands. Kaoru noticed but kept quiet.

"Go away!" Ruki shouted and began walking away. Kaoru grabbed Ruki by the arm and was immediately greeted with a raised fist ready to smash his face in. His eyes widened and he closed his eyes for the inevitable pain but it never came. Ruki's arm was held back by Kaho was appeared out of nowhere and stopped Ruki from punching Kaoru. The strength of the grip on Ruki's arm from Kaho was tremendous and it shook with restrained power. Rivulets of water streamed down the old woman's face and hair, her white robes were completely soaked by the storm.

"Ruki..." Kaho said in a quiet voice. Somehow over the whistling wind, Ruki heard Kaho and she glared at her. Kaoru opened his eyes and saw Kaho standing strong in the wind and rain holding back Ruki's fist. It made for a strangely tense sight, Ruki looked defiantly back while Kaho retained her cool and waited.

"Fine!" Ruki shouted over the rain and put her fist down. Turning around she headed up the stairs to the temple. Kaoru let go Ruki's arm and looked at Kaho.

"You too," Kaho said and pointed up to the temple after Ruki who was going up. Kaoru was too confused and such to argue. He went up the stairs like a good little boy. Kaho followed up after them while the rain beat down on them.

******

Lopmon hated the rain. It was now official and stamped by the brain's approval. His fur was completely waterlogged and heavy. He swore that he's fur was sagging to the ground because it was so wet but valiantly, or to his mind, Lopmon walked back to the Lee apartment. He made a conscious effort to make sure no one saw him while he ran through the streets but there were occasions where he had to reveal himself to cross. People scurried out of his way or threw cans at him while he ran but he didn't stop. 

'Ignorance is the root of fear and all evil,' Lopmon reminded himself as yet another human threw a can at him. Another seeing the commotion another man bent over to pick a few stones.

"You stupid digimon! Take that!" The man screamed and began throwing stones. Bending down occasionally just to pick up more stones, he chased after Lopmon with a vengeance.

'It also happens to be incredibly annoying,' Lopmon thought to himself as he ran. The man refused to give up the chase. Lopmon jumped up onto the wall of a nearby house and start jumping on the roof to avoid the man whom soon lost sight of Lopmon.

"Where'd you go? You digital freak? Come out!" The man screamed out in frustration. It was keening sound of anger and, oddly, loss. Lopmon didn't know who the man was, if Lopmon knew then he would have been far more sympathetic to the man. He had lost his home when D-Reaper entered the real world and prior to that, before Ruki became a Tamer not that he knew it, he had lost his wife to a digimon attack when it emerged. Hypnos reacted too late in trying to capture the digimon but that hardly matter. He despised this abomination from an equally abominable world; it didn't deserve to live and sure as hell didn't deserve recognition for saving the world. They were a disease, a plague that needed to be exterminated from the face of the earth.

Lopmon was no longer there; he was far away from the man and ignored everything around him. Lopmon was too busy trying to pick his way through the streets to get back home. He could see the apartment building that he lived in and saw various vehicles and people gathering around the entrance. Lopmon could see reporters, police officers and curious people gathered around the entrance. Lopmon could hear some of the comments from the people.

"Heard it was digimon that attacked this place. Rumor has it that it had a bomb... At least that's what all the news says about it... I don't get it, if it was trying to blow up this building why would it take the bomb and throw it into the Bay?" A woman about thirty years of age asked her younger companion, another woman besides her.

"How should I know? I'm worried about my children! I thought those dangerous creatures were eliminated or something," the young woman answered. A news reporter and cameraman soon approached the two women talking and stopped.

"Hi, I'm Hironobu Eichi of Japantoday. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind," Eichi smiled pleasantly and thrust his mike in front of one of the ladies.

"Uh... Sure," the young woman said in an uncomfortable voice. Eichi smiled and motioned his cameraman to come around.

"First off, how would you like to know that the digimon seen today actually lived in this building with a family?" Eichi began. Lopmon gagged and hide away while listening.

"What? How's that possible! Those digimon are dangerous. What type of family would accept a monster in it? What about their children? Are they mad?" The young woman asked shocked. She couldn't believe it. If she had a digimon in her house, she'd kick it out.

"Apparently, now this is just hearsay, that the digimon belonged to one of the famous Tamers who saved the world less than a year ago," Eichi continued. He loved the reaction that he just got from this woman; so far everyone seemed to agree that digimon were a dangerous threat. Now if he could only convince the general public, he would be doing a good deed for humanity in protecting it from the threat.

"A Tamer! You mean one of those children who have digimon as their pets?" The woman asked into the mike. Lopmon seethed with anger at the comment of him being a pet or an object in the possession of someone. Obviously the general sentiment for digimon was not a good one in Tokyo. The small little jaunt through Shinjuku to get to here proved that much. Lopmon could only sigh in frustration and reminded himself once more.

'Ignorance is the root of fear and all evil,' Lopmon said in his head over. It was not right to begrudge someone because they didn't understand but Lopmon couldn't help but fear for Shuichon. How would her friends react if they found out she was a Tamer? Would they shun her? Attack her? Insult her? Like so many other people have all ready done to Lopmon within the last half-hour he spent trying to get home?

Lopmon began to move away from the scene silently in the alleyway he hid in. There was no way he could go back into the apartment with so many people around the place. Lopmon began to get a sick feeling that the Lee family probably wasn't in the apartment any more anyways. It was all too possible that the Lee family went somewhere else to stay because of the bomb fiasco to avoid the media. Who knew what the media would do if they ever found out the identity of even one Tamer. There were a few places that the Lee family might have gone to, to avoid bringing attention to everyone and avoid giving ideas to the media of who the other Tamers might be. That eliminated Ruki, Takato, Hirokazu and Kenta's place and their family since the media might pester them. To house six individuals and in relatively short period of time. Where else could they be staying at? A friends place? What place would hold so many people? Ideally it should be in a quiet street area and such... Sensei Wong's?

Lopmon began to run towards Sensei Wong's house in the rain. There was no choice now but this. He was pretty much useless if he couldn't find where Shuichon was.

Cars swept by in the wet asphalt street spraying water into the air. The rain was still falling and night was falling soon. It was past dinnertime for most families and people were staying inside due to the rain, much to Lopmon's relief. The dull grey sky of clouds was a depressing sight to behold. It seemed that the city had turned prematurely black. Lopmon wasn't sure what time it was now and the lights in the city began to light up. They reflected off the black wet street and light up the sombre city color of grey. Sensei Wong's house was just a few blocks away from Lopmon. The serene Chinese style house had a wonderful garden with bamboo stalks and wisterias that Lopmon could see peeking above the walls of the place. Without missing a beat Lopmon leaped up over the wall and into a big mud puddle that was hidden from Lopmon's view by the wall. Lopmon became caked in mud and though it didn't look like it since he had brown fur in the first place.

"Wonderful..." Lopmon muttered and went up to Wong's door and knocked rapidly. Behind the door the sounds of talking could be heard and the shuffling of feet. It stopped just at the door and a voice came through the door.

"Who is it?" Wong asked quietly from behind his door. He sincerely hoped that it wasn't a reporter of some sort.

"It's me! Lopmon, open it up please," Lopmon answered. He then heard a very familiar squeal that could only belong to one particular little girl.

"Lopmon!" Shuichon said excitedly and threw open the door before Sensei Wong could react to reveal an even darker brown furred Lopmon. Wong raised an eyebrow but Shuichon didn't wait a second and launched herself at Lopmon for a good hug.

"Shuichon, wai... Ack..." Lopmon could only say. He was still covered in mud but he didn't have time to tell his Tamer. Shuichon hugged and noticed how wet and dirty Lopmon was. The mud from his fur got on Shuichon cheek and clothing as she hugged him tightly. She stopped hugging and let go of Lopmon when she finally noticed that she had dirtied her clothing. Mayumi walked into the hallway after Shuichon and saw the mess that she made.

"I guess we should bundle you off for a bath young lady... And you too Lopmon," Mayumi stated as she picked up her daughter. Lopmon sighed and tried to wipe some dirt off of his fur but only managed to rub in more.

"Great..." Lopmon muttered his breath. He looked down the hallway and saw Terriermon looking visibly upset.

"What's with you?" Lopmon asked Terriermon as he entered the house. He looked to down to see he was making mud tracks but Sensei Wong simple sighed.

"Don't worry I'll clean up after you. You just join Mayumi and Shuichon in the bathroom;" Wong said and walked into his house to get some mops to clean up the mud tracks that Lopmon made.

Terriermon was right besides Lopmon looking relatively calm.

"More children..." Terriermon said in a monotone voice. Lopmon stopped before the bathroom and looked at Terriermon.

"Oh... Yeah... Guess you'll have to keep acting as Princess Pretty Pants for at least another eight years..." Lopmon commented.

"Abaddon is Yamaki's illegitimate son..." Terriermon continued. Reika heard Terriermon and shouted from the bedroom where she was with her son Katsuyo and the rest of the Lee family.

"No, he is not!... At least I don't think so..." Reika responded annoyed. Katsuyo rolled his eyes and nestled into his mother's arms to get comfortable. Lopmon blinked and stared at Terriermon.

"... You're joking... I mean has Yamaki even confirmed that?" Lopmon asked.

"No... But I wouldn't put it past CLM," Terriermon answered. Lopmon was about to ask another question but Shuichon grabbed Lopmon from behind when he turned his back on the bathroom door.

"Come on Lopmon! Bath time," Shuichon said and dragged Lopmon through the door. The door slammed shut and Mayumi could be heard.

"Don't hold him so tight Shuichon!" Mayumi said as she gently pried loose Shuichon's grip on Lopmon. 

"I want to clean him!"Shuichon said in cute voice. She walked over to the bathtub and plopped Lopmon in ungracefully. Mayumi sighed and looked at Lopmon who was looked quietly terrified but hide it from his face enough that Shuichon didn't notice.

"You can help but after he's cleaned, you are going in young lady," Mayumi said in non-comprising voice. Shuichon nodded and smiled at Lopmon who dreaded what was to come.

"You know I can clean myself," Lopmon began. He eyed Shuichon who was pouting and prayed to Zhuqaiomon that Mayumi would consider he's words.

"Yes... That's true, okay then. You can clean yourself. Please don't take too long," Mayumi said taking the hint. Shuichon was deprived and Mayumi took Shuichon by the hand and out the bathroom.

"But I want to help clean him," Shuichon began. Lopmon sighed and fiddled with the shower nozzle that was right beside him. It wasn't that he unappreciative of Shuichon offers to help clean him up but there was underlining sort of concern about the things that he had witnessed today. It didn't make him feel very comfortable.

'Ignorance is the root of fear and all evil,' Lopmon reminded himself and turned on the shower to clean himself. The moment he forgot that, was the moment that he will begin to fear and do evil.

During this time in the other room, Jen was busy explaining to the others in the house who Abaddon was. It was greeted with silence and some strange looks from his brother and sister who quite obviously didn't get it. Reika looked skeptical at it all. Terriermon had re-entered the room with Sensei Wong.

"So, he seems to be the only person who knows what's going on," Jen explained to his father mainly. Janyuu looked thoughtful and crossed his arms.

"Not to mention that I am sure that CLM is his father. I mean that not even she knows if CLM had other women in his life," Terriermon added in. Jen could only sigh and look apologetically at Reika.

"Ignore him. I somehow doubt Yamaki would do something like that," Jen said in a meek voice. Jen grabbed Terriermon and covered his mouth.

"Ack... You tyrannical fascist! There's something called freedom of speech in this country!" Terriermon said as he struggled in Jen's grip. Jen ignored Terriermon and shut his mouth up.

"I have to admit I wouldn't know at all since Yamaki has never told me that but then again I've never asked," Reika said in amused voice. Katsuyo simply slept in his mother's eyes; the conversation did not interest him in the least. His dreams were far more entertaining, thank you very much.

"In any case, this Abaddon obviously knows more than what he lets on. Is there any chance that we can see him?" Janyuu asked. Jen shook his head to his father.

"I told you, Takato has the card and all. He's the only one that can get Abaddon here," Jen answered. Janyuu paused in thought and turned to his older son and daughter.

"Okay, it's your turn to tell what happened when I was out," Janyuu said to Jaarin and Rinchei. The two siblings looked at each other and nodded.

"Well, as you know some digimon attacked us. Lopmon sort of blew the thing away with his attack when it was right outside our apartment door. It seemed to be rigging the bomb but Lopmon sensed it. Anyways when it blasted right threw the door everyone in the apartment heard it and the bomb was out in the hallway. Lopmon went out and got it but everyone saw him. They panicked and, there was what?, two minutes left in the timer of the bomb. So Shuichon gets the bright idea of making Lopmon digivolve to Antylamon and throwing the bomb into Tokyo Bay... Oh yeah and then that bastard of a landlord told us that we couldn't live in the apartment because 'we represent a danger to the normal people in the building'," Rinchei explained bitterly. Janyuu sighed and looked at his son.

"I know how you feel. I'm kind of angry myself but it can't be helped," Janyuu said but Rinchei could only glare at his father.

"What do you mean it can't be helped? I know the look that guy was giving Shuichon! He hated her even though she's just a kid! I'd say Jen take Terriermon over there and kick his ass!" Rinchei stated coldly.

"Why do you say that?" Janyuu asked surprised by his older son's reaction.

"Why? The asshole said to us when Shuichon wasn't around that we should get rid of her, 'if we knew what was good for us. Freaks don't mix with good families'," Rinchei answered. Janyuu face went dead cold and neutral while Jen and Terriermon could only remain silent. Jaarin put a comforting hand on Rinchei's shoulder.

"There's nothing we can do about that... All we can do is change the present and try to find out what's going on with the more important issue. One man's hatred can't drag us down to hate back at him. It'll only expand the ever-widening circle of fear," Janyuu said in a sad voice to his son. Rinchei could only sigh and look at his father.

"So then what's the important issue at hand then?" Rinchei asked his father.

"You could start by telling what digimon attacked you," Janyuu said nodding.

"It was something called an Ekamon, I saw it on Shuichon's thingy," Jaarin answered.

"And?" Jen asked getting into the conversation.

"Well... It was weird. I mean, it bleed blood but... It was like blood but it was black. It made a huge mess in the hallway," Jaarin said not quite sure.

"Like black blood?" Janyuu asked baffled. Jaarin nodded at her father's unspoken question.

"That's impossible. Data from a digimon doesn't react like that in the real world. When data comes from a dying digimon and finally deletes, it just dissipates into the air," Jen said in a similar mystified voice. Janyuu thought to himself and turned to his youngest son.

"Maybe we should do a small experiment... If Terriermon is willing," Janyuu explained.

"Experiment? If it's going to be another program put into my being or putting probes into my body, then no," Terriermon reacted.

"No... Actually you probably won't like it at all. I want to make a small cut in you to see if you bleed," Janyuu said with a straight face. Everyone in the room froze and stared at Janyuu.

"Um... Excuse me? The point of that would be?" Reika asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"He wants to see if Terriermon's data will react the same way," Jen said silently, realizing what his father was thinking. Sensei Wong walked out of the room and within a few moments came back with a rather sharp looking knife.

"I think this should do it," Wong said in a calm voice while Terriermon's eyes went buy-eyed.

"Oy! Just one second! I haven't agreed to this yet!" Terriermon began. He eyed the knife warily as it past to Janyuu's hand.

"It probably won't hurt that much... I won't do this if you don't want me to Terriermon," Janyuu said in a reassuring voice. Rinchei walked out the door of the bedroom to stand watch at the hallway while Jaarin took that moment to close the door to the bedroom to keep Mayumi and Shuichon from coming in.

"... Ah... Well... Oh crap... Why does this always happen to me? Fine..." Terriermon muttered. Terriermon extended out his left ear towards Janyuu who grasped it. Jen held onto Terriermon's body tightly to make sure his partner didn't move.

Janyuu cut into the ear very quickly and pulled out. It was a rather shall cut and waited to see specks of data to float up into the air. Terriermon had been gritting his teeth in hopes of lessening any pain to come. It wasn't bad as some painful things that had happened to him luckily. The data never rose from the wound; instead a thin imperceptible welling of black data began to surface. Janyuu looked at it for a moment and then put a finger into the black data. It was indeed liquid and it stuck to Janyuu's finger like blood would. He frowned not comprehending what had happened or why it was happening in the first place.

"Jen, I need to borrow your cell phone," Janyuu said. Jen reached into his pocket and to get out his phone to give to his father but realized he didn't have it with him. Terriermon brought his ear to his eyes and saw that it was bleeding. The sheer novelty of it inspired morbid fascination in Terriermon. He never would have expected that he would bleed data rather than simply watch it fade when he got cut.

"Um. I left it with Takato..." Jen admitted.

"I'll just use Wong-san's phone," Janyuu muttered distracted.

"What are you doing?" Jen asked his father. Who past the knife to Sensei Wong handle first.

"I'm calling Yamaki and then I'm calling Shibumi. Something is seriously wrong here," Janyuu muttered. He went out into the hall.

******

Kenta fumbled with the Makino family phone in the kitchen while Hirokazu used Jen's cell phone to call their home. Not a moment to lose and everything to gain. The phone rang and they waited. Not knowing whether or not their family was alive or dead or worse. 

"Come on. Come on... Pick up the damn phone," Hirokazu snarled. He hated waiting for his parents to pick up the phone, it was taking too damn long. Anything could have happened during this time. What if they were dead? What if Guardromon had been deleted? So many what-ifs that it made Hirokazu's head spin in circles.

"Hello? Shiota residence..." The familiar voice of Hirokazu's mother filled the air. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom? Is that you? Are you all right? Is Dad all right? Where's Guardromon?" Hirokazu began shooting off his mouth.

"Huh?... Dear what's wrong?" Hirokazu's mother, Sayumi, asked baffled.

"I know this sounds crazy and all but I want you to get out of the house. Stay at a friends place or a hotel or something!" Hirokazu said quickly.

"Does this have anything to do with that digimon down in Shinjuku?" Sayumi asked suspiciously. She swung her hair back and looked behind her to see Guardromon waiting to use the phone to talk to Hirokazu. She wrinkled her brow and wondered why her son insisted on having the hunk of metal around. There was no point, didn't Guardromon have a home in the digital world? Guardromon stood by and waited for Sayumi to stop using the phone.

"Yes... I mean no... I don't know! You might be in danger! I want you to get out of the house!" Hirokazu shouted into the phone frustrated at his mother. Sure she didn't like digimon, including Guardromon, but now was not the time for anything petty as intolerance.

"I don't see why and all... Let me guess you want to talk to Guardromon?" Sayumi asked in a tired voice. There some things that she didn't get about her own son.

"... Your not going to budge from the house are you?... Fine then! I want to talk to Guardromon!" Hirokazu answered annoyed. Sayumi at the other end simply past the phone to Guardromon and walked away.

"It is I," Guardromon spoke into the phone.

"Am I glad to hear from you! I need you to keep an extra sharp look out for my mom and dad!" Hirokazu said.

"I think I know why you're asking. It's all over the news... Why is you humans always have to be so confusing? One moment we're praised for saving the world, then next we're cursed for destruction," Guardromon answered.

"No, it's not only that. Some of the other guys families been attacked. I don't care how my mother feels! Drag her out of the house if you have to! Get her out of there!" Hirokazu snarled and then noticed the line had been cut.

"We are sorry but the phone line you have been on has just been cut... We apologize and hope to have services back up as soon as..." Hirokazu simply dropped the cell phone on the ground and ran out the Makino house without a single thought. Hirokazu ran down the hallway and past the kitchen where Kenta and Seiko were. Kenta was about to go after Hirokazu as he ran out into the rain without a single thought but Kenta couldn't go after him. He had to call his house first and see if he's family was all right. The phone was finally answered, Kenta didn't wait for a single second.

"Mom! Are you all right?" Kenta asked desperately. He didn't want to know what had happened to Hirokazu's parents if it inspired him run into the rain like that.

"..... hiss...." The other line answered. It was full of white noise and indecipherable noise. Kenta felt his blood go cold and his hand trembled.

"Mom?... Anyone?..." Kenta asked into the phone and waited. His voice now trembled.

"............" Silence and then the cheerful voice of the operator.

"We are sorry but the phone line you have been on has just been cut..."

Kenta slammed down the phone and ran out the Makino house. MarineAngemon flew after his partner and left the house behind. They were heading to their homes. Seiko sat in the kitchen chair and watched Kenta charge off. It was a disaster, it was horrific and yet Seiko forced herself to be calm. Renamon was somewhere hidden in the house to dry off and Rumiko was busy getting changed into drier clothing. Seiko was the silent witness of Kenta and Hirokazu's distress.

'Breathe Seiko. You must be calm,' Seiko reminded herself over and over again. Yet she couldn't help but worry about Ruki. Her granddaughter was a thousand times the risk taker than those two boys put together. Yet it was vital that she remained calm and collected. She looked down on the kitchen table to be greeted by the sight of the ancient box that Seiko had given to Ruki so many years ago and it's contents, such as the black journal that glared back at her.

'Ruki always said that I was the rock of this family... Because I never panicked, I wonder if she knows that I want to slap some sense into her for going away from home without telling anyone again,' Seiko thought to herself. Her thoughts plagued her and the implications of everything that was happening weighed heavily in her mind. Yet calm clear headed rationalism prevailed and Seiko found herself trying to distract her worries away. The journal that Ruki had written in gleamed back like a beacon of sanity to Seiko. It was wrong in all sorts of levels, it was a breach of trust but how could Seiko justify the complete lack of knowledge she had of her own granddaughter? How many other things had Ruki hidden away from her and Rumiko? Without thinking Seiko opened another page of the journal to read.

'Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. 

In his early writing, anarchist leader Mikhael Bakunin (1814-1876) composed the notorious entreaty still identified with nihilism: "Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unreachable and eternally creative source of all life--the passion for destruction is also a creative passion!"

Nihilism, in fact, can be understood in several different ways. _Political Nihilism_, as noted, is associated with the belief that the destruction of all existing political, social, and religious order is a prerequisite for any future improvement. _Ethical nihilism_ or moral nihilism rejects the possibility of absolute moral or ethical values. Instead, good and evil are nebulous, and values addressing such are the product of nothing more than social and emotive pressures. _Existential nihilism_ is the notion that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and it is, no doubt, the most commonly used and understood sense of the word today. 

Penetrating the façades buttressing convictions, the nihilist discovers that all values are baseless and that reason is impotent. "_Every _belief, every considering something-true," Nietzsche writes, "is necessarily false because there is simply no true world". For him, nihilism requires a radical repudiation of all imposed values and meaning: "Nihilism is . . . not only the belief that everything deserves to perish; but one actually puts one's shoulder to the plough; one destroys_"_

The caustic strength of nihilism is absolute and under its withering scrutiny "_the highest values devalue themselves_. The aim is lacking, and 'Why' finds no answer". Inevitably, nihilism will expose all cherished beliefs and sacrosanct truths as symptoms of a defective Western or Eastern mythos. This collapse of meaning, relevance, and purpose will be the most destructive force in history, constituting a total assault on reality and nothing less than the greatest crisis of humanity: 

While nihilism is often discussed in terms of extreme skepticism and relativism, for most of the 20th century it has been associated with the belief that life is meaningless. Existential nihilism begins with the notion that the world is without meaning or purpose. Given this circumstance, existence itself--all action, suffering, and feeling--is ultimately senseless and empty. 

The Skeptic Empedocles' observation that "the life of mortals is so mean a thing as to be virtually un-life," for instance, embodies the same kind of extreme pessimism associated with existential nihilism. In antiquity, such profound pessimism may have reached its apex with Hegesis. Because miseries vastly outnumber pleasures, happiness is impossible, the philosopher argues, and subsequently advocates suicide. Centuries later during the Renaissance, William Shakespeare eloquently summarized the existential nihilist's perspective when, in this famous passage near the end of _Macbeth_, he has Macbeth pour out his disgust for life: 

Out, out, brief candle!   
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player   
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage   
And then is heard no more; it is a tale   
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,   
Signifying nothing.

When we abandon illusions, life is revealed as nothing; and for the existentialists, nothingness is the source of not only absolute freedom but also existential horror and emotional anguish. Nothingness reveals each individual as an isolated being "thrown" into an alien and unresponsive universe, barred forever from knowing why yet required to invent meaning. It's a situation that's nothing short of_ absurd_. 

The common thread in the literature of the existentialists is coping with the emotional anguish arising from our confrontation with nothingness, and they expended great energy responding to the question of whether surviving it was possible. Their answer was a qualified "Yes," advocating a formula of passionate commitment and impassive stoicism. In retrospect, it was an anecdote tinged with desperation because in an absurd world there are absolutely no guidelines, and any course of action is problematic. Passionate commitment, be it to conquest, creation, or whatever, is itself meaningless. Enter nihilism. 

Camus, like the other existentialists, was convinced that nihilism was the most vexing problem of the twentieth century. Although he argues passionately that individuals could endure its corrosive effects, his most famous works betray the extraordinary difficulty he faced building a convincing case. In _The Stranger_ (1942), for example, Meursault has rejected the existential suppositions on which the uninitiated and weak rely. Just moments before his execution for a gratuitous murder, he discovers that life alone is reason enough for living, a _raison d'être_, however, that in context seems scarcely convincing. In _Caligula_ (1944), the mad emperor tries to escape the human predicament by dehumanizing himself with acts of senseless violence, fails, and surreptitiously arranges his own assassination. _The Plague _(1947) shows the futility of doing one's best in an absurd world. And in his last novel, the short and sardonic, _The Fall_ (1956), Camus posits that everyone has bloody hands because we are all responsible for making a sorry state worse by our inane action and inaction alike. In these works and other works by the existentialists, one is often left with the impression that living authentically with the meaninglessness of life is impossible. 

Camus was fully aware of the pitfalls of defining existence without meaning, and in his philosophical essay _The Rebel_ (1951) he faces the problem of nihilism head-on. In it, he describes at length how metaphysical collapse often ends in total negation and the victory of nihilism, characterized by profound hatred, pathological destruction, and incalculable violence and death. 

By the late 20th century, "nihilism" had assumed two different castes. In one form, "nihilist" is used to characterize the postmodern human, a dehumanized conformist, alienated, indifferent, and baffled, directing psychological energy into hedonistic narcissism or into a deep _resentment_ that often explodes in violence. This perspective is derived from the existentialists' reflections on nihilism stripped of any hopeful expectations, leaving only the experience of sickness, decay, and disintegration. 

In his study of meaninglessness, Donald Crosby writes that the source of modern nihilism paradoxically stems from a commitment to honest intellectual openness. "Once set in motion, the process of questioning could come to but one end, the erosion of conviction and certitude and collapse into despair" (_The Specter of the Absurd_, 1988). When sincere inquiry is extended to moral convictions and social consensus, it can prove deadly, Crosby continues, promoting forces that ultimately destroy civilizations.

In _The Banalization of Nihilism _(1992) Karen Carr discusses the antifoundationalist response to nihilism. Although it still inflames a paralyzing relativism and subverts critical tools, "cheerful nihilism" carries the day, she notes, distinguished by an easy-going acceptance of meaninglessness. Such a development, Carr concludes, is alarming. If we accept that all perspectives are equally non-binding, then intellectual or moral arrogance will determine which perspective has precedence. Worse still, the banalization of nihilism creates an environment where ideas can be imposed forcibly with little resistance, raw power alone determining intellectual and moral hierarchies. It's a conclusion that dovetails nicely with Nietzsche's, who pointed out that all interpretations of the world are simply manifestations of will-to-power. 

****

Side note: 

I swear, if my teacher accuses of me being a nihilist again I am going to scream! If I were a damn nihilist I probably would have committed suicide ages ago or went nuts and murdered everything in sight for absolutely no reason!'

Seiko closed the journal again and thought. What was this journal about anyways? So far Seiko had only seen essays. Were there no confessions? Any deep secrets revealed? Or any clue as to why Ruki acted the way she did? Or were these essays explaining things that she was and was not?

Seiko got up from her chair and walked out of the kitchen. In the hall where she stood she went over and picked up the cell phone which Hirokazu had hastily dropped. The rain seemed to letting up and outside the city seemed to light up like a ethereal ghost. The wet walls caught the shine of the city lights. The garden was slick with water and was hidden partially by the semi-opaque darkness that was settling now.

"Ruki..." Seiko quietly said to herself. There must be something in that journal to reveal where Ruki was. Or some clue as to what was going on. It was too much of a coincidence that her disappearance marked attacks on the other Tamer's families. Seiko turned around and entered the kitchen to read into the journal more.

The rain finally stopped.

******

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Katou Takehiro hated hospitals. He hated their smells. He hated their sounds. He hated how they felt. So sterile and unforgiving. But most of all he hated the memories associated to this place. This ward of loss and pain, the feeling of helplessness and sadness. Where he lost his wife and where he lost his daughter's innocent unfettered smile. True, he was not injured badly but the doctor insisted staying one night at the hospital. Takehiro was ready give the doctor a piece of his mind for forcing him to stay in such a infernal, misbegotten place but checked himself against anger. After all the doctor couldn't have possibly known what had happened here so many years ago. In this same hospital and in this ward.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

But why, oh why, did they put him in a room with a seemingly comatose woman next to him? This was the worst torture that he had ever experienced, next to the near loss of his daughter Juri. There was no way in hell he was getting any sleep tonight. He turned to look at the woman that lay in the other bed on the other side of room. Equipment steadily feed data to inform observers that she was still alive, not that the piece of electrical junk can save or improve it's ward's life. Takehiro noted that she was beautiful in a sort of earthly macabre way. She seemed unusually young and seemed to be asleep. But he knew better, his wife looked that way when she slept her last night on earth in a room similar to this one.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The equipment in the room that monitored his wife's vital signs while providing any other news. Actually, the news that everyone and everything gave him was bad. He remembered his daughter standing by his side in silence, not comprehending why all the doctors were in such a flurry of activity. They rolled out machines that they had no understanding of and said words that baffled them to extreme. Juri only stared at her mother and watched her life be snuffed in a such effortless endeavour so quickly that there was no time for Takehiro to break down and cry or react with anything but numb acceptance. He remembered the look of confusion on his young daughter's face when Takehiro unemotionally accepted the doctors and nurses apologies. Juri never did understand why he didn't cry that day or at the funeral. He was just too stiff and stern to her.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

What could he have done? Cry? Bend over his wife's dead body and kiss her? Say a Buddhist prayer to send her off to the afterlife? What the hell could he have done? His heart had been shot to pieces that day and his daughter could only look up at him and ask.

"What happened to mommy?"

"... This was her fate..."

Now that he thought about it. What kind of answer is that?! It was the most unsatisfactory and idiotic answer he could give to a person. Why did someone die? Because it was fate?

Takehiro got up from his bed wincing from his wounds. The bandage over his right arm where stitches had patched up the gaping wound. It had cut into his muscle a bit and the doctor said corrective surgery would be needed to fix when time past. But he wasn't willing to wait in a hospital bed for that time. He just wanted to go home and go back to his family.

Beep... Beep... Beep... 

It was then that Takehiro swore he had seen something. It looked like a dark figure standing over the comatose woman he shared the room with this night. Takehiro stood in silence and then tried to see what was there. It was just emptiness and the loneliness of the room became quite apparent. The machine continued its work while Takehiro approached the bed of the comatose woman. It was still raining outside and Takehiro was finally at the end of the bed. He could have sworn he had seen someone standing over the woman just a few seconds ago. It looked like a boy in dark clothing with strange glowing eyes and fair hair.

Shaking his head, Takehiro looked down at the base of the bed and picked up a clipboard that was attached to read off information of the patient.

"Kimatori Ayahiko... Infirmed 2002, December 22... Cause of coma unknown... Proceed with regular care..." Takehiro read off and frowned. Information that was almost useless to him and put the clipboard down into it's slot at the base of the bed. He took a good look at around and saw nothing around him. He then looked at the woman who was supposedly in a coma.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

She looked like she was asleep almost. Takehiro turned his back on her and walked out of the room without looking back. He was going home, damn the doctor and their professional medical advice. Takehiro couldn't take it any more and this room. The machine wouldn't shut up and now he was seeing things.

Takehiro opened the door and left the room. In a shadow that now began to move slightly, Sen revealed himself by leaving it. The shadow was like undulating water that parted way when Sen stepped out from it. Frowning Sen walked over to his mother side and sighed.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

'I got too careless...' Sen realized how close he was to getting caught. He noted how ironic it was that Mr. Katou in the room, recovering from his injuries. Sen could only stare down at his mother smile sadly but couldn't reach out to touch her. The plan had been revised and was now on the roll. Soon everything would be over and what was expected of him from his client would be done. And he would reap what he had sowed.

"... Pacta sunt servenda... Not that you realize that Mr. Matsuda..." Sen muttered to himself. He faded into the darkness leaving his mother alone again. If he had only stayed for just ten seconds, Sen would have seen his mother do something he would have thought impossible. 

Kimatori Ayahiko cried a single tear. One of many she had shed without her young son's knowledge.

*******

Yamaki stood in the elevator of the Hypnos building. The clear glass of the elevator allowed him a complete view of Shinjuku. The city lights were just turning themselves into beacons that obscured the sky. The dull black clouds still that insisted on remaining in the sky and made for a slightly depressing scene in Yamaki's mind. The thrumming of rain had long since ceased echoing through the hallways of the seemingly empty building. The steady veering of gears caused the door to finally open and let Yamaki into a bubble of activity. Technicians and others ran around the place checking wires and monitors, trying to understand what was going on. This was life, as Yamaki knew it, the constant sounds of beeping equipment and computers spitting out information. It seemed strange and ironic that the government decided to make Hypnos a recognized government organization, visible by the public though information was still tightly controlled. Hypnos was just used as a research platform for the digital world and various studies on digimon. Though it still could monitor data spikes of bio-emerging digimon, such an event hadn't happen in a year now.

"Status report!" Yamaki barked as he entered the room from the elevator. Megumi ran down to Yamaki to explain the situation.

Now the government was demanding answers why a digimon was seen jumping on the roofs of Shinjuku and attacking the Bay. All Yamaki knew of the situation was that the Lee family had been attacked by a digimon and had to get rid of a bomb. The apartment had been cordoned off and a team of investigators were all ready at the scene to investigate. Not that that stopped people from forming ridiculous conspiracy theories about the entire thing. People accused Yamaki to being a corrupt government official or an incompetent or some sort of megalomaniac for the simple fact that he was blond or for some other such silly reason. It was irritating to the extreme.

"We're being swamped by the media and government for answers. Half of us don't even know what the hell is going on. Hypnos observed a data spike of a digivolving digimon at the Lee apartment but other than that Hypnos didn't register any other activities," Megumi answered when she came up to Yamaki. The technicians checked the equipment.

"I want the equipment checked. It seems that more digimon have entered our world somehow. Hypnos must have sensed something," Yamaki said curtly. His cell phone rang and Yamaki resisted the urge to take the batteries out of the phone.

"There's nothing wrong with the equipment. We're also checking the entire month's observations by Hypnos but nothing has come up at all. No digimon realized during that month sir," Megumi went on explaining. Yamaki reached down and turn on his phone.

"Check the entire year if you have to. It must have realized into our world somehow," Yamaki ordered and put the phone up to his ear.

"Yamaki... This is Janyuu;" Janyuu called from Sensei Wong's home tiredly.

"I'm kind of busy Janyuu," Yamaki answered. He walked to a computer screen monitor to check some information that was streaming in.

"I know but there's something very wrong," Janyuu explained.

"What do you mean wrong?" Yamaki asked.

"First off have you sealed off my apartment floor?" Janyuu asked.

"Yes, a team has been sent up to see what had happened and such. It should be secure," Yamaki answered. He wondered why it was so important for Janyuu to know that.

"That's good, it seems that something is changing about digimon themselves," Janyuu mused.

"What do you mean by that?" Yamaki asked. It was then a klaxon warning went off and filled the air of Hypnos.

"We have a breach! Initiating level 3 protection!" A technician shouted and people began furiously typing away at their computers like their lives depended on it. Then again with a boss like Yamaki, it wasn't all too far off base to assume that your life really would depend on your performance. Yamaki forgot about his conversation with Janyuu and began furiously typing into his computer console in front of him. He accessed network to see what was wrong.

"What the hell is that thing doing?... Oh my god! It's going to 'realize' right in here!" A random voice from the cell phone could be heard. Janyuu gripped the phone and listened. He could tell that Yamaki had dropped his cell phone and the constant running of feet and shouts could be heard.

Reika stood right besides Janyuu and pressed the speaker button to listen in to conversation. The sounds of panic could be heard through the hall. Everyone could hear it and Katsuyo simply roused himself from his sleep in his mother's arm.

"GET BACK TO YOUR DAMN POST! IF YOU DO YOUR JOB, IT WON'T 'REALIZE' IN HERE!!" Yamaki could be heard shouting. He sounded a bit far from the dropped cell phone on the ground.

"IT'S ABOUT TO EMERGE!! SITE OF ENTRY! HYPNOS IN ONE MINUTE!!" Megumi could be heard shouting.

"DO A FULL LOCKDOWN!!" Another voice shouted.

"THE DAMN COMPUTER IS GOING INSANE!! WE TRIED INITIALIZING LEVEL 1 PROTECTION!" Another woman cried out. More panicked shouts of information and running feet echoed throughout a cavernous room. Klaxon warning blared throughout the entire thing.

"TRYING TO OVERRIDE!" Megumi announced over the noise.

"JASON 2 IS OFFLINE!! VIRUS REPORTED IN THE MAIN COMPUTER!" A random voice exclaimed.

"WE'RE SHUTTING DOWN DAGON!!" Another could be heard.

"POWER'S GOING OUT?!! WHAT THE #$*&?!" Another one and then sounds of a small explosion off somewhere in the building. The klaxon warning no longer blared throughout the complex.

"Switch to auxiliary power!" A single deadly calm voice ordered. Yamaki didn't sound the least bit disturbed about everything was happening.

"Where's security? All non-essential personnel are to evacuate from Hypnos immediately!" Yamaki ordered in the same calm and controlled voice.

"WE CAN'T THE DOORS JAMMED!" A voice answered back from the floor below. Two men were busy trying to pry open the metal doors.

"Gunfire has been reported on Level 12! Security is pinned down!" A man reported.

Reika hardened herself for anything that the phone might reveal. Katsuyo was now fully awake to the sounds of panic and shouting from the phone. He heard his father's voice shouting out orders and Megumi's updates. Janyuu could only grip the phone in his hand tightly. Everyone came out and gathered around the telephone to listen on the speaker.

"... Prep up Shaggai! We'll destroy the digimon before it comes in here!" Yamaki ordered.

"30 seconds until it 'realizes'!" Megumi announced.

The phone began to experience white noise and sound was now hard to hear. It was a torturous wait and every now and then a random word filtered through the noise. Reika turned her back from the phone away from anyone who might have been looking at her. She didn't want them too see her worry and placed all her hope on what Yamaki was doing. Katsuyo looked up to see his mother's face and saw something in her eyes. Random voices of people could be heard through the phone. The rest was garbled that only bits and pieces of it made sense.

.... garble... crackle... "fail"... snap... "penetrating".... crackle... crackle.... "Security".... sshhhh.... "OH NO!!!"..... crackle... ssshhh... snap... "Tell Reika, that".......

Then the phone went silent. A dial tone replaced the garbled white noise and a fairly cheery, if annoying beep could be heard. It stretched into the silence and no one could breath. The last voice before the silence was Yamaki's and eyes turned to see Reika's back facing away from the group. Janyuu took the liberty to hang up the phone and the familiar sound of the dial tone was completely cut off.

***(what really happened)***

"30 seconds until it 'realizes'!" Megumi announced. She was sweating badly and her uniform was now sticking to her like a second skin. She was terrified and adrenaline rushed through her body but somehow she just wasn't panicking yet. Perhaps it was her experience with the D-Reaper and such, or perhaps it was because Megumi kept on thinking how Reika would react in a situation on this. The klaxon 

"Shaggai can't be prepared that quickly. It's doomed to fail!" A technician shouted to Yamaki.

"I DON'T CARE! DO IT!" Yamaki roared. A few non-essential personnel were busy trying to force the doors open downstairs. The klaxon warning was dead now and weak murky ambience from consoles and emergency lights were the only sources of light in the room. The silence could now be heard in the room and banging sounds of all sorts could be heard echoing. They sometimes sounded nearby or far away but it was unnerving. Yamaki swore he just heard the scream of a terrified man and the sound of tearing flesh bouncing around the building right outside the metal doors leading up to the main Hypnos observation room. They were echoes and it was impossible to tell where they were coming from. Yamaki tried not think of it and began furiously typing away at his computer to revive the Shaggai program he had left. It was simply matter of precaution in Yamaki's mind, just in case there was a genuine need for it but he never imagined that he would be using it in this fashion or situation. Paranoia is virtue contrary to what psychologists claim and Yamaki's paranoia had it's moment to shine.

"It's now penetrating the Digital World's barriers... Is it me or is it getting foggy in here?" A man in one of the rising chairs next to Megumi asked nervously.

"Shut up... Shaggai online... Now tracking" Megumi snapped as she typed furiously away at her computer. There was nothing left for the other technicians to do but wait and hope that they could use Shaggai in time. It was taking too long and yet Megumi couldn't help but hope.

"Ten seconds until it 'realizes'," Yamaki counted off from a screen down below near a console. His sunglasses glared from the screen's brightness.

"Oh yeah! Sure! No pressure on me!" Megumi snapped and continued working. Her fingers flew over the keyboard in a blur. Megumi somehow completely lost all feeling of attachment to the situation. It was as if she was not really inside her body but outside it watching. It seemed all so hopeless now and yet she still worked. It was rather freaky, little questions entered her head such as how they were all going to die or what type of digimon was trying to enter here.

"5." Yamaki casually, if coolly announced. Truth be told he was scared but it never really surfaced. He had his silver lighter in his hands and he was opening and shutting the lid. Yamaki didn't really ask his brain how the lighter got into his hands but right now he could careless. All he knew was he was too young to die and how Reika and Katsuyo would be like if he wasn't there to watch them.

"4." Shink. The lighter opened to make sharp metallic sound. For every second Megumi could hear the damn lighter open with that same metallic sound echoing throughout the room. The room was deadly silent except for the occasional beeping noise from the screen overhead showing the digimon trying to 'realize' in the main Hypnos observation. A dance of a tracer and digimon was lighted on the above screen. Many people in the room kept they're eyes on the ceiling watching the dance on the screen.

"3." Shink. The sound of the metallic rasp of the cigarette lighter. The tapping of keyboards from Megumi. Her fellow tracker had given up and took to staring up at the ceiling to watch the progress. Yamaki and Megumi were the only one's not watching and were not in complete silence. The sounds of banging, shouts, screams and such were gone now and could no longer be heard echoing throughout the building.

"2." The tracer had finally caught up with the digimon, now it was a matter of implanting Shaggai to do its work on the creature. Fog bellowed into the room and blinded everyone. Megumi however was far to busy typing to notice the familiar feeling of moisture. Yamaki finally stopped playing with his lighter and noticed on the ground the cell phone he had dropped on the floor. It was still working he noticed and he picked it up. He stopped counting. The ceiling was completely invisible now and no one could tell if Shaggai had worked or not.

"OH NO!! We're not going to make it!" A man began to weep. He was obscured by the fog and by the time Yamaki looked up to see the timer, it was all ready zero seconds. Silence filled the room, a sort tangible silence that one could taste on their tongue. Then the fog dissipated and revealed to the view of everyone, Hypnos. There was no rogue digimon ready to tear them apart or some terror, just darkness and gloom.

"Shaggai has been successful," Megumi announced mechanically before collapsing back into her chair, nerves frayed. Silence filled the room and Yamaki took the opportunity to take the cell phone to his mouth to speak to Janyuu.

"Tell Reika that I'm all right..." Yamaki said and then noticed the line had just cut him off from finishing his sentence. The sound of silence filled his ear. There was no dial tone of any sort and the power had just died from the phone.

"We're alive!" Megumi's fellow co-worker on the rising chair cheered. He raised his fist into the air and pumped it. Technicians began weeping and some hugged each other.

"No thanks to you Warui!" Megumi said annoyed. Warui stopped celebrating and looked fairly embarrassed. Megumi went back to work and tried to see what had happened. Yamaki could only thank God for giving him at least one effective employee in times of crisis.

"Contact security! I want a full report on what just happened! Also, I need a cell phone to use!" Yamaki ordered without waiting. He didn't have time to celebrate, he needed to find out what the hell just happened.

"I got a cell phone right here for you sir... Wait... It's dead..." A technician offered and then saw that his cell phone was completely dead.

"Hey... What the... My phone's dead as well," Megumi proclaimed. 

"Then use the damn computer then and get security up here!" Yamaki snapped.

"WAH!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO MEAN! I JUST WENT THROUGH A LOT BACK THERE!" Megumi cried, she broke down finally. She really needed some vacation when this was over. 

Yamaki, for once, felt guilty but brushed it away. He could only hope that Megumi wouldn't mention his little retort to Reika. There would be hell to, mainly paid by him, if Reika found out.

***(Continuing on with the Lee family)***

"... I'm sorry... I don't know what's going on any more..." Janyuu tried to say in a firm voice. Reika still turned away from them before slowly turning around to face them. Reika walked up to Mayumi and passed Katsuyo into her arms gently. Katsuyo looked confusedly at his mother and wondered why he was in the arms of another woman and looked at his mother with his blue inquisitive eyes.

"Oh... Don't worry... I just need some time... Just take care of Katsuyo for me... " Reika began softly with a slightly pained smile. Mayumi held Katsuyo closely and was about to comfort Reika but Reika reacted first by running out the front door of the house.

"WHILE I GO AND SEE WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED OVER THERE!!" Reika shouted. She threw open the door and ran out into the streets without her shoes on. The rain had stopped and night had fallen over the city. Sensei Wong was so surprised at the speed Reika had run out of the house from that he didn't have time to grab her.

"Mrs. Yamaki! Come back here!" Wong shouted after her and began running after Reika who was barrelling down the street towards Hypnos. Lopmon finally came out of the bathroom, clean and dried, to witness Reika run out of the house. The entire Lee family had not even expected the normally calm looking Reika to go ballistic and run out of the house.

"I should go after her as well who knows what's out there, come on Terriermon," Jen said in quickly. Janyuu however stopped his son.

"No... Wong-san can take care of her. She's heading towards the Hypnos building, we know where she's going. The most important thing for you to do is find your friend Takato and learn more about this Abaddon," Janyuu firmly explained. Mayumi with Katsuyo in her arms motioned Shuichon to the bathroom to clean up. Shuichon was about say something but closed her mouth. She looked up at Katsuyo in her mother's arms and wondered if her little brother or sister was going to look like him in her mother's arms. Lopmon moved out of the way and walked towards Janyuu.

"If Hypnos has been taken down what is going to be watching the pathways between the two worlds?" Jen asked his father.

"Lord Zhuqiaomon would be now be the only entity watching over the Digital World," Lopmon answered. He walked up with the towel around his neck and looked thoughtful.

"This is insane..." Terriermon finally said.


	13. Bloody Sorrow

About my fascination surrounding Neon Evangelion. It's not my fault, I kept on seeing similarities in Tamers and decided to pepper some of it into my fic but it is not going to be anything extreme. Just a few references and such, nothing major. Besides the guy who wrote Tamers had a major thing for Evangelion.

Warning. Dark themes involving death and such. I will now be upping the rating of my fic to R. 

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Life has been sort of hectic since I had to do my exams. Furthermore of June 29, I will be gone. I have to Japan for two weeks to visit my grandmother and such in Asashikawa, so don't expect another chapter of this story any time soon. 

Thank you for your patience and I hope you like this chapter.

****

Oderint dum metuant _Let them hate me provided they do fear me_

The train ride to Hongou was something Ryou did not quite expect nor did he realize the extent of fear that digimon now inspired until he got on. For example people were actually not coming towards him and bugging him for autographs. That was fine and all but he wished it were for a completely different reason other than fear. It was unusual since he was so well known; in fact they were keeping at least a ten-foot radius away from Ryou. It probably had to do with the fact that Monodramon was busy looking out the window with rapt attention and swinging his tail like a dog. The people on the train seemed genuinely terrified at the sight of the digimon. They whispered amongst themselves and quite a few gave them threatening glares. Ryou smiled nervously and then looked at his partner.

"Hey! Ice cream... That reminds Ryou we didn't have dessert after dinner," Monodramon idly commented when he saw a little girl outside of the train when it stopped at a subway platform. The little girl Monodramon was looking at froze up at the sight of the digimon and then ran away screaming towards her mother. Needless to say no more people got on board and more got off to get away from Monodramon.

"Mono...." Ryou said irritated voice. Before Ryou could say anything someone on the subway platform threw a rock at the window behind where Ryou was sitting and shattered it. That made Ryou duck and cover in time while people on the subway platform began throwing junk at the windows of the train.

"What are you doing there you stupid kid! Get off the train! There's a digimon right besides you!" A woman shouted in from the crowd. Some of the more proactive people began throwing junk and more stones at the windows. All were aimed at Monodramon and Ryou, it wasn't until a few seconds that the doors closed and the train began moving away from the platform. Ryou kept his head down and he heard a few more windows break before raising his head to see what happened. The interior of the subway was a mess and Monodramon was delicately picking off a half eaten ice cream cone off his horns.

"Well... that was smashing success! They all love me," Monodramon said sarcastically. He looked at the garbage littering the train from people's unexpected volleys and the glass from broken windows. The pun and irony of Mondromon's words however were lost on Ryou as he surveyed the damage. He got out Kenta's borrowed black book and noted that they would be getting off the next stop.

".... I never thought that people would be so scared out of their wits," Ryou finally admitted. He should have known better than to parade Monodramon in the open after he heard about Antylamon and the various condemnation of digimon on the news. It was ridiculous but ever since the D-reaper incident people had been leery of things that came from the Digital World.

"Hongou! We are now stopping at Hongou!" An announcer proclaimed over the PA system. 

"I guess we get off here..." Ryou sighed. He wished he had a bigger jacket or maybe a blanket to cover Monodramon up but now it was too late.

"Let's go then!" Monodramon said enthusiastically forgetting completely that people had been throwing junk at him and insulting him. Ryou took off his jacket and covered Monodramon's head with it to try and hide him. Which was an act of futility seeing how Monodramon hated being covered like so.

"You have to hide yourself like that," Ryou said. He sighed, it wasn't going to work, anyone with eyes in their head can see that Monodramon was digimon but it was the best he could do. Monodramon let loose a few choice words about hiding but followed Ryou off the train when it stopped. People looked amazed at the broken windows and junk strewn all over the floor of train car number 5 but were scared out of the willies when they saw a coat covered digimon walk out with a human boy. They kept a good distance away from Ryou and made way for the two in the crowd of people to let them out. Nervous whispering could be heard every now and then.

"Say, isn't that Akiyama Ryou? You know the 'Legendary Tamer'?" A young boy said to another of his friends. It was full of admiration and no fear that Monodramon was with him.

"I wanna digimon too," a young girl told her mother.

"You can't have one! They're dangerous;" the mother answered back her daughter.

The grumbling and so on was easily lost since Ryou and Monodramon quickly exited the subway into Hongou. It had stopped raining and puddles of rain water were collected here and there. Monodramon removed Ryou's coat off his head to get a better look around. The coat was impeding his line of sight.

"Well at least we know there are a few fans out there," Monodramon grinned to Ryou. Then stopped when he saw the pensive look on his Tamer's face. Ryou said nothing and sighed.

"What's with you?" Monodramon asked.

"I'm just thinking... If people were angry enough to throw rocks and break windows to try and hurt you... That means that everyone in this city is afraid of digimon... I mean I'm getting tired of seeing terrified faces everywhere I go with you," Ryou said. 

"Are you saying you don't want me around?" Monodramon asked suspiciously. Ryou blinked and looked at Monodramon.

"Absolutely not! I did not say that... I'm just saying I'm getting annoyed at people who don't understand and just blindly fear what they can't understand. I mean I think ninety percent of the adults of this city hate you for being a digimon," Ryou answered annoyed.

"Oderint dum metuant," Monodramon answered in a slightly darker voice and his eyes shined a bit. It was a very familiar voice that Ryou shuddered at the memory at. Monodramon blinked and the glean in his eyes and voice returned to normal. Ryou however had all ready taken a step back when he recognized the voice that Monodramon used.

".... I wish Mille would stop doing that...." Monodramon said sighing.

"Well I just hope that he doesn't come out, bad enough that he has a thing for me..." Ryou said shuddering at the thought of his mortal enemy and subsequent attempts to kill him before.... Plus the rather disturbing confession of his 'affection' for Ryou.

"You have to remind me about that?... He seems to be fuming and plotting on how to make you his..." Monodramon said annoyed. Ryou just rolled his eyes and began walking while Monodramon followed after him with the jacket over his head. Luckily there not that many people out on the streets tonight and so they weren't harassed. It was soon that arrived at a dark house with no lights on but waiting at the gate was a man who held a candle. He saw Ryou and Monodramon approach and motioned to them.

"Over here," the man motioned towards the door of the house. Ryou checked the address and noted that it was the right place. Ryou approached the man and ushered Monodramon right into the house.

"I heard from Impmon that you were coming over Akiyama-kun," the man spoke again as he closed the door. Ryou removed his shoes and then turned his head to look at the adult.

"May I ask who you are?" Ryou asked the man who smiled weakly.

"I'm Iramoto Kachiro. I'm Makoto and Ai's father," Mr. Iramoto answered. He looked fairly distraught was pulling through all right.

"I'm Akiyama Ryou. Pleasure to meet you... Though I wish we could have met under more auspicious circumstances," Ryou answered and bowed slightly to the older man. Mr. Iramoto sighed and looked defeated.

"I know this might be asking for much Akiyama-kun... but could you talk to my daughter and son about this all? A digimon killed our dog, Kesa, and my kids aren't taking it too well. My wife and Impmon are trying to help but it's really affecting them," Mr. Iramoto asked politely. Ryou blinked and nodded while Monodramon sniffed the air of the house and wrinkled his nose.

"Phew! What smells?" Monodramon asked. The stench was terrible, especially for his sensitive nose that picked it up. Mr. Iramoto winced and guided the two down the hallway where they came upon a covered portion of the hall. A jacket was over two separate pieces of something and had blood soaking through and drying all over it and the floor. Ryou could smell the faintly rotting flesh and could see the tail of dog peeking out from the jacket. Ryou bent down and took the blood soaked jacket off to see the dull-eyed head of Kesa. The rest of the body was a little bit away from the head but Ryou got the gist of what had happened to the dog. It had been cut down the middle of its back and exposed its internal organs perfect for Ryou's view. Monodramon gagged and Ryou could only harden his resolve through a serious urge to retch. Ryou covered up the body again with the jacket and stood up.

"... Why didn't you clean this up?" Ryou asked in a neutral voice.

"Impmon said to leave everything as is until you arrived," Mr. Iramoto explained. Ryou looked down at the corpse of Kesa and nodded.

"You can get rid of the body..." Ryou said. He felt sick chills run through his body and Monodramon turned his back on the bloody remains of the dog. It was just sick and Mr. Iramoto could only nod before beginning to clean up the mess that was Kesa. A little further away from the dog's dead body was a large black stain and the remains of what seemed to be spider webs. Ryou went up to the black spot and looked at it closely. Monodramon came to his side and took a light sniff of the black substance.

"... Ryou... It smells like data but it stinks so much I can't stand it!" Monodramon said covering his snout. Ryou narrowed his eyes and dipped his finger into the black substance. Most of it had dried but a bit of it came onto Ryou's finger. He rubbed it together with his thumb and index finger and noted the texture of how it felt. It was a bit gritty due to the fact it was partially dried and felt disturbingly like blood.

"Are you sure this is data?" Ryou asked Monodramon. It didn't make sense at all. Ryou knew of no digimon or thing from the Digital world that 'bleed' data.

"Positive... Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Monodramon asked as he watched his partner take the black substance to his mouth and take a taste. Monodramon just stared while Ryou spat it out quickly as soon as it touched his tongue. The black substance tasted like tar mixed with turpentine and, for some strange reason, Alkaloid mints. It tasted terrible and Ryou made a face.

"... You're sick and you're crazy... Did you know that?" Monodramon stated in a sickened voice after watching what his partner do.

"Ugh..." Ryou said and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water to wash out the taste. 

"... I think I'll go talk to Makoto and Ai now," Ryou said as he gargled out the water from his mouth to wash out the taste of the digital blood.

"They're upstairs together," Mr. Iramoto said with a wavering voice. He grabbed a black garbage bag and stuffed Kesa's body and the jacket in it all together. Ryou made a noise of acknowledgement and down the hallway, past the kitchen and living room to the stairs. As Ryou walked he noticed another black stain and a deep gash in the sides of the hallway. It was deep and had three distinctive marks running parallel together and when he past the living room Ryou noticed that the glass window was partially shattered. The rain had stopped but the floor was wet with rain and glass littered the ground from some sort of impact. Ryou stopped and stepped back a bit to correlate the black stain and the living rooms door. He discovered the shattered glass door was roughly the same placement as the black stain of digital blood. Monodramon went into the living room and went up to the glass. Taking a whiff from the thing and then shrugged.

"Sorry Ryou. The rain washed out the scent," Monodramon explained apologetically. Ryou nodded and continued his way down the hall until he reached the staircase going up. Ryou couldn't hear anything but Monodramon could clearly hear muffled sobs and soft words of comfort being said to someone. It was rather pitiable and Monodramon could only look down with eyes downcast. Ryou noticed the sombre attitude of his partner and turned to look at him.

"Something wrong Mono?" Ryou asked.

"... Yeah... It occurred to me that this fight that I'm expecting is going to take in a lot more than we're going to take out," Monodramon answered. Ryou grimly set his face and then smiled.

"We'll be prepared then..." Ryou stated simply and went up the stairs. He could now hear Impmon's voice speaking soothingly to another while a higher pitched girl's voice argued back. Ryou approached a door and lightly knocked on it. All conversation on the other side ceased and Mrs. Iramoto opened to door. Her face was lined with worry but was calm, behind her Makoto played despondently with a dog leash and Ai seemed to be arguing with Impmon. Ai however could only look at the Legendary Tamer with teary eyes and turned away while Impmon looked at Ai helplessly. Finally he sighed and turned to Ryou. Impmon was covered in bandages. One around his leg was had some black digital data soak through while the rest were just a few bruises and minor cuts that had all ready clotted on Impmon's black skin but Ryou could see the difference of some of the drying data against Impmon's skin.

"You came in time," Impmon said weakly. Ryou bowed to Mrs. Iramoto and then entered the room. He headed straight to Makoto who played with dog leash.

"Hey," Ryou began and smiled at Makoto who looked at Ryou blankly. The bloodied socks of Makoto had been removed before Ryou arrived but Monodramon could smell the blood of Kesa on Makoto distinctly.

"...." Makoto could only look at Ryou for a brief moment before looking down at the dog leash, ignoring him completely, and concentrating wholly on the leash. Ryou felt awkward and only pat Makoto on the head affectionately.

"Just hang on there buddy... I mean your mother and father don't want you to be sad and everything. Monodramon and me will do everything in our power to help you... I promise you," Ryou said to Makoto in a soothing voice. Makoto continued to fiddle with leash and Ryou got up to approach Ai and Impmon who stood a little away from Makoto. Mrs. Iramoto closed the door of children's bedroom and that was then that Makoto spoke though his eyes never left the leash.

"... Is it in your power to bring back Kesa?" Makoto asked quietly. Ryou stopped and looked over his shoulders to Makoto. Makoto looked up to stare at Ryou straight. The room held their breath and Ryou could only shake his head. Mrs. Iramoto went to her youngest son and kneeled by his side with him.

"... Sorry... I'm not god or anything. That's not in my power to change... Even if I could I wouldn't," Ryou explained. Makoto looked down and away from Ryou.

"Well I should have that power..." Makoto said tersely. It didn't sound like a six-year-old who was saying it and Ryou could only feel a brief feeling of unease. He heard that tone of voice from another young boy a few years ago but couldn't remember whom or when. The memories of the past was terribly blurred and such that Ryou often wondered if he had dreamed them up or something. Impmon could only frown at what his other Tamer said.

"You say that without thinking. There will be a time when power will be an unbearable sin and burden," Impmon said softly, a voice marked by an experience made a scant year ago. Makoto stopped playing with the leash and looked away from them all. He turned his back away from Impmon and dropped the leash to the floor. Mrs. Iramoto lightly hugged her youngest son tenderly hoping that he would simply relax.

"Impmon!" Ai said in a stern voice. Ryou approached Ai who simply frowned at his approach.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Ryou asked pleasantly. Ai however simply looked him straight in the eye and answered.

"You shouldn't make empty promises like that and raise his hopes like that," Ai stated. Ryou blinked and looked at Ai in surprise. Her statement sounded unusually cynical for someone so young..

"... I'll keep that in mind," Ryou said pleasantly. Ai only seemed to get annoyed by Ryou's amiable reply and frowned. Ryou stopped smiling and decided to take on a different tack.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to do raise his hopes," Ryou answered. Ai could only sigh and looked at Impmon who stood beside Monodramon.

"Ai, we can't just charge out of the house and hunt down what attacked us. We don't even know what's going on," Impmon explained for the fifth time. His young Tamer failed to understand that they were completely blind to what was happening.

"What did happen?" Monodramon asked.

"You won't believe what I have to tell you," Impmon began. He shifted uncomfortably in his bandages.

"Try me," Ryou stated. 

"... Have you ever seen a digimon get blown away by an actual gun?" Impmon asked.

******

The rain had stopped and the temperature of the night was rising, which was a good thing in Takato's mind because he was very cold and very wet from running in the rain a few moments ago. Juri stood unsteadily to her feet with Culumon in her arms and looked at the bottle of sake on the floor of Guilmon's former residence. Takato didn't notice because he was busy looking out the door where Abaddon had just stepped out of and simply disappeared into thin air. 

"Now where did he go?" Takato asked to no one in particular. Juri looked away and to where Takato was standing. She looked at his form in the pale street lamps from outside and noted how different he looked in the darkness. Strangely foreboding sight as he stood in the doorway and Juri forced herself to remember that it was Takato standing in there and not some stranger. Juri was about to say something but ended up sneezing. Takato turned around from the sound of Juri's sniffling and walked to her with a kind smile and a hand outstretched.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, we're both soaked to the bone. We better go to Makino-san's place before we get sick," Takato said. Juri nodded her assent and tentatively reached out and held onto Takato's hand. Takato noticed Juri's reluctance but didn't say anything about it. He ignored the sake bottle on the floor and looked around the dilapidated and once-proud residence of Guilmon before leading Juri out by the hand. The puddles of rain water splashed by his feet as he exited.

"Come on Guilmon," Takato called out. Guilmon who was busy wandering around his former residence with a critical eye before walking out.

"Nothing's changed Takato," Guilmon commented as he left his 'house' behind. They walked down the steps slowly but Juri couldn't help but note the irony of Guilmon's statement. 'Nothing's changed', it was such a lie but a lie that Juri often found herself finding comfort in. That way she could always tell herself that there was nothing really wrong with Takato at times. Juri found herself staring at Takato as he led the way with his hand over Juri's, it was then that Juri let go of Takato's hand to walk at her own pace. Takato noticed that Juri had let go of his hand and turned around.

"... Is something wrong?" Takato asked concerned. Juri looked up at Takato and simply nodded no.

"No, nothings wrong. I just wanted to walk on my own that's all," Juri answered. She walked up to Takato's side but then noticed the look in his eyes was still there. That desperate, and oft times, wild expression that frightened her. Takato screwed up his courage once more and decided to ask Juri a question he was sure that she would not answer.

"Juri... I meant to ask you earlier but... Why was Abaddon staring at you? I mean he looked like he knew something and..." Takato trailed off. His suspicions began to assert themselves but he ignored them, but he felt an underlying feeling of anxiety. Juri felt uncomfortable under Takato's gaze and shifted slightly.

"... I don't know..." Juri lied and hated herself but she reminded what Abaddon said to her about her half the deal. She couldn't tell anyone or she would have to forfeit the life of a loved one. Quite frankly she couldn't stand the thought of losing another person dear to her or any death at all. Takato listened to Juri's answer and shifted uneasily this time. He hated to think of the possibility but it felt like Juri was lying to him. Guilmon noted the strain of silence the two were having and the group came to a stop for a brief moment by themselves. Culumon could only look up at Juri with wide eyes and wonder.

"I... I think you're not telling me everything Juri," Takato said in a nervous voice. Underneath he felt a bit betrayed and disappointed, he felt so sure that Juri trusted him. After all he had done to prove to her how much he cared... There were still things that seemed to be in their way and he had to admit he wasn't always truthful to her all the time but he tried. Juri looked downcast by Takato's statement and made no motion to deny or concur at Takato's suspicions.

"It's not that I'm accusing you... But I just want you to know that..." Takato struggled with various emotions such as anger at the possibility of what Abaddon had done to Juri and nervousness as he tried to make his mind as to what to say to Juri.

'Tell her that you love her,' a little voice in the back of Takato's head demanded but his mouth refused to comply.

"... as a friend, I'm always there for you," Takato finished. Juri could only look up at Takato and look him straight in the eye. She could see the roiling conflicting desires in his eyes and could only give him a painful smile.

"... I know... And as a friend I have to ask you not question me but trust me," Juri said quietly. Takato felt like he had been punched in the stomach but he didn't show it though he was quite sure that it somehow involved Abaddon. If he couldn't get the answer out of Juri then he would get it out of Abaddon eventually.

'I'm such a trusting idiot... She's hiding again and there's nothing I can do...' Takato thought with slight bitterness.

"I understand..." Takato said and then a pause. The silence between them became unbearably and even Guilmon and Culumon seemed to feel rather edgy. This sort of thing hadn't happened between Juri and Takato since the loss of Leomon. The silence of quiet pain and want of telling but no breakthrough.

Desperate to the end the awkward silence between them Takato decided to speak.

"Um... Juri... How was Ruki acting for the last few days?" Takato asked. Juri felt relieved that the question no longer pertained to Abaddon any more.

"... She was acting really irritable for the last few days I have to admit. Talk to Renamon about it if you want more information but she was acting really restless for a few days before she disappeared yesterday... I mean she wandered around the city looking for fights. She kept on saying she needed to time alone away from everyone," Juri answered as she thought about it. Ruki acted in an extremely hostile and annoyed manner and pushed everyone, including her away without a thought. It was as if Ruki had reverted back to her old self before any of them met. At first Juri dismissed it as undue stress that Ruki was putting herself through or a mood swing of some sort.

"I think I know what you mean. She threatened to throw me into a garbage can if I didn't leave her alone and I didn't say or do anything to her... It was as if she... well... nervous..." Takato said. He shook his head in disbelief, it wasn't that he doubted Ruki's ability to carry out her threat but the fact she looked almost all too willing to throw him into a garbage can if he gave her the barest reason to.

"I wouldn't say nervous... More like she was on edge about something that she couldn't let go or release," Juri commented. The silence returned between them but it was slightly more bearable because they pondered upon a mutual friend's strange behaviour prior to her disappearance.

"It's as if... Ruki knew that something was going to happen and left... I first thought it was just that she just wanted time alone because she was such a loner but now with these attacks, it makes me wonder if I pegged her reasons wrong," Takato finally admitted. Juri remained silent and digested the information given and thought upon it a bit more. She shook her head and straightened her back straight despite the rush of blood that went to her head. Juri regretted drinking so much sake but now it was too late to change anything.

"... I guess we should get moving, there's nothing more we can do about it here. Let's go back and get everyone together and find Ruki... She's the only person here who can answer why she left and perhaps tell us more about what's happening," Juri said and Takato nodded. They didn't hold hands this time and walked together to Ruki's house with Guilmon trailing from behind, unsure how to comfort his Tamer or how to quantify the situation. There were no police officers in the street as they walked and the street lamp's lights created more malevolent shadows that seemed to twist and jerk with movement. The clouds in the sky and the lights of the city obscured the stars and the sky was misty. It wasn't until Takato and Juri reached the very gates of the ancient Makino household that they began smelling the heavy smoke in the air and the sounds of various sirens in the air. They looked at the sky wordlessly and saw a strange orange red color flickering in the distance, painting themselves on the clouds and walls of the city. Takato then quietly realized that he was watching a fire but Juri was one who was first to notice a news helicopter. They all however heard an explosion that caused them all to jump. It wasn't until then that they saw a digimon, floating in the air, fire off a green energy blast and hit the helicopter that subsequently went into a tailspin. There was nothing they could do about it.

***(a few minutes prior)***

Hirokazu swore in his head over and over again. His brain tried to keep up mad jumble of emotions that ran through him. Was his mother safe? Where was his father? Who was attacking? A myriad of questions and no answers only increased Hirokazu's fears. His feet pounded the pavement and sent water everywhere as he ran through the wet street to his house. Night had fallen and the bright electric lights of the city light up the sky and dark streets, letting Hirokazu see ahead perfectly. He could see the red and orange light of a fire some sort further down the road and the smell of smoke in the air. He then heard a large explosion and a familiar shout ahead of him.

"Destruction Grenade!"

Hirokazu could hear Guardromon's familiar voice and the sounds of exploding grenades a street before him. Smoke raised from one of the houses was visible for thousands of meters around. There was a fire and it was spreading, the sounds of fire engines sirens could be heard and people were coming out of their houses to see what was going on. Hirokazu ignored them all and ran past them to his home. That was all that mattered to Hirokazu at that moment, home and family. Above Hirokazu, a single news helicopter sauntered around, recording the spectacular battle below them. It's powerful lights pointed downwards to the ground and illuminated the battle. Guardromon could be fully seen out in the backyard of a now burning house that was raging out of control behind him. The flickering flames licked hungrily at the wooden structure of the house and reduce to ash. Another digimon that looked like a skeleton was dodging Guardromon's attack and let the attack plough them into the next-door neighbours' yard where they exploded and sent shrapnel flying. Luckily for Guardromon there was no one home next door, the bad thing about it was that the house was now catching on fire due to his missed attacks. Annoyed Guardromon closed into his enemy for hand-to-hand combat to avoid making a bigger mess then necessary. He had no idea how the digimon by itself managed to cut the power and phone lines to the house but that was moot point. Hirokazu's home was now up in flames but Sayumi ran out the yard leaving Guardromon and the enemy digimon alone.

"Digimon? Tamer's digimon?" The misshapen humanoid with surprisingly strong stick thin arms asked in a monotone voice. It's blood red eyes fixed itself on Guardromon waiting for his next attack. Guardromon deemed it unnecessary to answer and charged the digimon. Using his jet boosters in his feet and back, Guardromon surged forward and tried to punch his enemy. With surprising grace the enemy digimon jumped into the air, easily avoiding Guardromon's punch. Then digimon simply floated in the air and looked down to see a fleeing woman down the street and news helicopter in the air.

"We are now showing you live footage of two digimons fighting in the west Shinjuku area! As you can see there are some buildings on fire," a pretty young female news reporter said as the winds from the helicopter's blade caused her hair to go all over the place. Luckily it was tied down, so it didn't get into her face or mouth as she did her report. The cameraman felt very nervous when he noticed one of the digimon fighting below jumped into the air and literally just stood on nothing but air, just about eighty feet below them. Going into a close-up shot he noticed something terribly wrong. The digimon opened it's mouth and a strange green colored light was forming, most of all it was pointed at them.

Sayumi had taken the opportunity to flee from the fire and directly down the same street that Hirokazu was on. Some of Sayumi's blonde hair was slightly singed but she didn't care, she inanely wondered if this was what her son had been talking about when he told her to get out of the house. She ran without really looking ahead as did Hirokazu who was concentrating on getting to his house. As a result of their lack of concentration around their surrounding and most of all what was in front of them, they crashed into each other.

"OW!" Hirokazu said and then picked himself off the wet street. He looked down at his now dirtied and wet pants and groaned.

"Hiro?" A shaky Sayumi asked as she looked up to see what had hit her. It was her son and he seemed all right.

"Mom? ... Are you all right?!" Hirokazu asked at first unsure and then panicked. He notice that some of his mother hair had been burned off but other than that she seemed fine and no worse for wear.

"We have to get out of here!" Sayumi said and grabbed her son by the arm. She was up in a flash and tried to drag her son away from the site of the fight. Hirokazu resisted and managed to pull away from his mother.

"I can't mom! I have to help Guardromon!" No sooner did Hirokazu say that a strange humming noise was in the air and then a powerful swoosh of air. Like wind, leaves went in a direction and puddles rippled but from where Hirokazu stood he could see a single ray of bright green light, originating from the mouth of the enemy digimon that hit a news helicopter above it. Instinctively Hirokazu took out his D-arc and pointed it to the digimon. The D-arc activated itself and information feed right through.

"Retribution Strike!" The enemy digimon said. Hirokazu read off his D-arc to see what the digimon was.

... Ekamon... Child... Viral... Attack: Retribution Strike...

Guardromon flew upwards at Ekamon in a futile attempt to stop the attack. Guardromon considered firing off another round of attacks but the chances of accidentally hitting the helicopter and possible houses were too great. Because Guardromon froze up in his decision Ekamon fired off his attack and hit the helicopter. At first nothing happened, not even the cameraman or news reporter noticed anything different. They all wondered if the digimon had actually missed them with its attack but anyone outside and watching could plainly see the green energy beam cut right through the helicopter. The people in the helicopter just never realized that they were all going to die. The energy beam hit the rotor blades of the helicopter and it burst into flames. It began spinning out of control and was going to crash, Guardromon flew up to the helicopter and took a firm grip on the side of the helicopter to try and control the landing. The cameraman kept his camera steady on Guardromon and could see the other digimon prepare another attack while Guardromon was busy trying keep the helicopter from crashing. The news reporter was too scared to scream and the pilot silently prayed for deliverance and strength.

Hirokazu's eyes widened and automatically he felt his hand reach into his pocket and grab two cards. He prayed to whatever was out there the two cards he just grabbed out of his pockets could save Guardromon and the people in the helicopter. It was complete gamble since he didn't know what cards he just pulled out, let alone what the result of the combo he was going to was going to be like.

"Card slash!" Hirokazu said and took the two cards and ran through the D-arc's scanner.

Guardromon however noticed a large looking shield was now on his back and that he felt much stronger, though not strong enough for him to land the helicopter without a crash landing. The gathering particles from Ekamon's next attack on Guardromon were finally launched.

"Retribution Strike!"

The green beam hit Guardromon's back but now since there was a shield protecting him, the attack dissipated harmlessly, leaving only a few burn marks on the shield. The force of the attack however sent him and the helicopter forward and over on the streets uncontrollably. The people in the helicopter screamed as the shock pulsed them forward and down on the streets. Guardromon put his jets on max power and strained his strength to the point that he swore that his metal was bending and melting due to the effort. The crash landing was something truly spectacular for Hirokazu, not because it was a impressive sight to behold but rather because the helicopter was now on the ground and grinding to halt while Guardromon held it back. Sparks flew from the metal and street and people cleared the streets as quickly as possible. The passing helicopter dented in the walls and it was coming down straight towards Hirokazu and his mother, Sayumi. On instinct Hirokazu called upon hereto unknown reserves of adrenaline-inspired strength and pushed his mother out of the way. She landed in a garden that belonged to a young couple who looked on with shock at Hirokazu's action. The helicopter continued to come straight down the street towards him.

"Oh shi..." Hirokazu said as he tried to take a step back but didn't make it in time. The helicopter's side door hit Hirokazu square in the chest and sent him flying in the air. Guardromon saw in horror it all and immediately strained to stop the helicopter before it ran over Hirokazu's body which landed a few feet in front of the helicopter, unmoving and bleeding from his mouth, Hirokazu could see the helicopter come barrelling to his body but couldn't move. The wind was knocked out of him and he swore that he had a few broken ribs for his efforts but with eyes open he watched the helicopter come. In desperation Guardromon pumped more energy into his jets to slow down the helicopter. Those jets from Guardromon's feet finally gave out with a terrific bang but the helicopter managed to stop in time by a mere meter away from Hirokazu's body. Guardromon crashed onto the ground while Sayumi ran to her fallen son.

"Hiro!" Sayumi screamed. The people in the helicopter got out and looked at Guardromon who was struggling to get to his feet, to only notice that his feet had literally melted off in his effort and that his arms were bent in an odd angle. A testament of Guardromon's efforts to save the people in the helicopter, regardless of the cost. The cameraman had ran his live feed camera the entire time and recorded Guardromon and then Hirokazu's prone form on the ground. They were all shaken and when the cameraman swung around to record Guardromon he noticed in the air was Ekamon charging up another shot for an attack.

"Watch out!" The cameraman screamed at Guardromon who could only look up dazed a bit and see an approaching danger.

"Retribution Strike!"

Guardromon reached his back and pulled the shield out from there, made possible due to the odd bending of his arms, and placed in front of him. The shot hit the shield once more and took the damage. Sparks flew off the shield and Guardromon felt his arms bend under the force, cracks appeared on the shield until it finally shattered but the beam luckily dissipated before the shield gave way.

"That's a dirty trick! Why don't you try picking on someone who can take you on!" Hirokazu said as he gripped his ribs and forced himself on his feet as his mother helped him up. Grimacing with pain from his abused body, Hirokazu managed to stand on his two feet without further assistance and somehow managed to look cocky as he gave Ekamon the finger, despite the pain and bleeding mouth. He no longer gripped his sides in pain though it hurt like hell and hoped that his diversion was giving Guardromon some time to recover.

"Die Tamer!" Ekamon said and flew straight towards Hirokazu. Sayumi used her body to protect her son who was surprised and out stretched her arms to give Hirokazu maximum coverage with her body. She trembled with fear but looked defiantly back at Ekamon.

"MOM!" Hirokazu said in shock but Guardromon managed to drop the shield he held and launch his attack in time.

"Destruction Grenade!"

The twin missiles hit Ekamon dead on and caused an explosion in mid air, only a few feet away from Sayumi who still stood to protect her son. The rush of wind and specks of data splattered all over the place. Guardromon's attack managed to vaporize most of Ekamon, so there wasn't much left of it's body. Guardromon kneeled weakly where he was with his arms out in attack mode before collapsing to the ground with a metallic clang.

"Mom?" Hirokazu asked again. Breathing was becoming a painful thing but he managed to walk up to his mother who was still standing in front of him. Her arms were by her sides and he noticed a rather shocked look on her face. She turned to face Hirokazu and stared at him.

"… You… You… You stupid and brave son of mine…" Sayumi said. She hugged her son lightly taking care that she didn't hurt him any more due to his broken ribs.

"Um…" Hirokazu shifted uneasily and held in the urge to scream in pain. His mother was taking care not to hug tightly but the pain was still there. He shifted his attention on Guardromon and with Sayumi's help he approached gripping the side of his broken ribs.

"Help me… I've fallen and can't seem to get back up," Guardromon said weakly. At that the helicopter pilot went up to Guardromon and tried to push him upright again. Guardromon however was too heavy and such for one person, the camera however kept on rolling and all of Tokyo could see what was happening. The reporter forgot about her 'exclusive' story and helped the pilot push, it was then that people came out from their houses and from the street to help push Guardromon back up. Hirokazu smiled with gratitude as more than a dozen people managed to get Guardromon off his face on the pavement.

"How ya doing buddy?" Hirokazu asked painfully.

"Fine… But I'm going to take a long time to recover," Guardromon noted as he checked his arms and legs. His body was dented and bits of wiring were short-circuiting here and there but Guardromon calculated that internal repairs would take at least a day to repair under optimal circumstances but his external would take at least three, that was his optimistic calculations. He looked up to his Tamer and noted that Hirokazu was now hanging off his mother's shoulder.

"Hiro?" Sayumi asked concerned by her son's condition. Hirokazu looked up to his mother with a smile and then bent his head downward to throw up blood onto the street. Sayumi looked shocked and helped put her son on the ground. His breathing was ragged and short, the people in the street made way for an ambulance and strange black van to pass through without hindrance. From the black van five people came out from it and immediately went up to Guardromon, they grabbed the cameraman and turned off the camera, much to the protest of the news reporter.

"What are you doing?" The cameraman said angrily as the black clothed goons took his camera away. The ambulance let out three paramedics and a stretcher and immediately went to Hirokazu's side. Sayumi panicked and listened to the paramedics.

"He has internal bleeding and at least three broken ribs! We've got to take him to the hospital!" One of the paramedics said as they loaded Hirokazu onto the stretcher. Hirokazu stared up into the faces of the paramedics dazed and confused, wondering what just happened. Oh sure he was in pain and such but he didn't expect to throw up blood or collapse. Was he going to die? Strange, the only time he had ever asked that question was when Beelzebumon fought against them a year ago after killing Leomon. Why would he ask this same question again? Hirokazu didn't mean to but he nodded off pondering about death. Then it hit him as he lost consciousness, he realized how close he was to dying today. Oh well, at least saved some lives tonight, dying didn't seem so scary if you know you made all the difference to someone's life.

"Are you his mother? Please come with us," another one said and grabbed Sayumi by the arm. The quickly bundled off the two into the ambulance while the men in black prevented the helicopter news crew from recording any more of the event. With some marked difficulty they managed to get Guardromon into the back of the large van, close the door and drive off. The sirens of the ambulance could be heard and everyone got out of the way. Fire trucks were coming to the site of the crash and fire while even more news agency descended upon the area like locusts.

Sayumi could only hold her son's hand as the ambulance began moving; it was all she could do as a mother. And yet... It seemed her son no longer needed a mother any more. The way he had selflessly put his life on the line for her sake and the sake of three practical strangers, it seemed far too heroic for a child to perform on the basis of his strength of character. That made her feel all the more wistful of her son's childhood, the past she would give anything to change and make better for her son if she knew that this was going to happen to him. Why did Hiro have to be a Tamer? There was no other answer to that question other than that Hirokazu wanted to be one.

That answer gave her no comfort.

***(during the battle)***

The streets were filled with people looking down the street behind Kenta. People mesmerized by the imagery shown on their TV's watched while children looked out their windows. The slick streets and their lights bore down on those who traversed them. Kenta found himself almost crashing into people hypnotized with the flames of battles behind him. He had push his way through and eventually tripped over something that sent him sprawling to the wet ground. The street soaked his pants and shirt. A small squeak of pain from his custom made pocket could be heard and Kenta winced. He looked into his pocket to check to see his partner and found the small Ultimate completely fine. The eyes of his partner looked up in annoyance and Kenta noticed that his entire shirt was now completely wet and muddy.

"Sorry Mari," Kenta said in an apologetic voice. He pushed his glasses up his nose and turned around a bit to see what was happening.

Kenta could hear a plethora of sirens. He could see evidence of a fire off in the distance, in the general direction of Hirokazu's house. Kenta watched a helicopter that was hovering over in the sky with its light pointing down. Kenta turned around and began running down the street to his house again but then he heard an explosion and turned around fully. MarineAngemon flew out of Kenta's pocket and hovered over his Tamer's shoulder but Kenta grabbed his partner and put him back into the pocket amid much squeaking and protests.

"You can't Mari, just bear with a bit longer," Kenta whispered fiercely back.

"... Pi pon pipe pii," MarineAngemon answered back in a whiney voice.

The smell of smoke entered his nostril and in the darkness of night were the faint shouts of panic. Kenta could only stand now and watch fire erupt from the houses and catch fire elsewhere. A green light hit the rotor of the helicopter and it descended to earth out of control until he saw Guardromon fly up to it and grab hold. With visible effort and strain of its jets, Guardromon grabbed onto the helicopter and attempted to bring it down safely. It was then that Kenta noticed something in the flickering flames of the fire. It floated in the air still and was gathering some sort of strange green power in its mouth. It was brighter than it would have been since it was night time now and Kenta found himself holding his breath, hoping that Hirokazu was doing something for Guardromon's sake. The blast fired off and hit Guardromon on the back but a shield appeared on Guardromon's back. A very familiar shield that caused Kenta to blink. MarineAngemon peeked out of Kenta's custom pocket to see what was going on.

"Hey! That's Aegis... Hirokazu was the one who took it from me after all... This probably the only time I'm going to be glad that Hirokazu keeps on forgetting to give me back my cards..." Kenta said to himself annoyed but immensely glad. That is until the helicopter seemed to go down with Guardromon for a crash landing. Kenta waited for the inevitable explosion from the helicopter crash was glad to find that heard nor saw any sort of explosion. Kenta smiled and then noticed the enemy digimon slowly descend until it was no longer visible. Kenta felt very worried and then another loud explosion rioted through the air. The blast could be seen perfectly from where Kenta was standing, he was tempted to run to Hirokazu's house but reminded himself that he had to get back home. He had to find out what had happened to his mother and father at his home. With reluctance Kenta departed from where he was standing and headed to his house. He took a turn to a quiet empty street and ran down to the fifth house.

The house was rather modest affair in itself. It had a gate and low walls that marked the boundaries of the front yard, which was puny indeed. The lights of the entire place was out and it was eerily quiet compared to the night sounds of sirens and talking which echoed through the street like a heaving sigh. Kenta checked his watch and noted that it was now eight thirty p.m. and strained his ears to hear his father playing Beethoven on the cello. His father always practiced the cello at this time when he came back home and ate dinner but the silence still persisted. The familiar mellow sounds of the cello were absent and Kenta felt nervous. He could almost imagine hearing his father hit the b flat note in the Beethoven Concerto No. 5 wrong. Or his mother wandering through the house chasing after the ever elusive and quite possibly fictional rat that no one had ever seen but his mother claimed to exist in the house. Yet there was no sound coming from his house and that made him feel very uncomfortable. MarineAngemon came out of his custom-made pocket, which his mother had sewn on for his sake, and floated by Kenta's shoulder. Kenta felt glad that no one saw MarineAngemon when he tried make a foray out of the pocket a few minutes ago.

"What do you think?" Kenta asked his partner in a serious voice. The sounds of feet walking down the street echoed and Kenta jumped in surprise.

"... Penpa... Pepe pi popepope pepin pu," MarineAngemon said. Kenta blinked and turned around to see a short black haired girl in a simple dress walk down the street. She looked up and saw Kenta and ran down the streets towards him.

"Kenta-kun! There you are! Have you seen the news!" She shouted as she ran down the street. Nakajima Miki was nervous and somewhat impressed to see Kenta at his house with MarineAngemon out in the open, seeing how negative everyone seemed to be with digimon lately. She wasn't afraid of digimon, after all how could anyone be terrified of MarineAngemon and Kenta together? MarineAngemon was the mirror opposite of big, ugly and evil. In fact the little digimon was positively cute with the added of effect of imitating it's Tamer's facial expressions with comical effects.

"Nakajima-san? What are you doing here? What's on the news?" Kenta said confused. Nakajima Miki lived only a block down the street but that didn't explain why she was here now. Every now and then she would come by with the others to play in the park or talk to him in school but other than that, nothing else.

"Hirokazu and Guardromon were on the news!" She said breathless and looked ready to cry. Kenta felt rather uncomfortable and was completely clueless as to how to comfort a girl. He should ask Takato about this topic when he had the chance.

"What happened to them?" Kenta asked tensely. Miki looked at Kenta reluctantly in the eye and answered. She was always taught by her mother to look at someone in the eye when you told them a potential devastating piece of news.

"They're both hurt really badly! I saw it on the news! Hirokazu threw up blood the collapsed and Guardromon got hauled away!" Miki said quickly. Kenta looked at the news and felt numb. His mouth went dry and eyes widened at the news. Hirokazu, the 'invincible' one, hurt to the point he threw up blood and collapsed? Impossible!... Right? Kenta remained silent for a moment and Miki wondered how he was taking the news.

"How badly do mean by badly? What hospital?! Where was his mother and father!?" Kenta exploded as he faced Miki. He didn't bother being polite about it, this was his best friend they were talking about. Miki blinked at the sudden explosion that came from Kenta. He gripped her by the arms with surprising strength and refused to let go.

"Hey! Hands off!" Miki shouted and pulled away from Kenta nervously.

"... Sorry..." Kenta said as he let go of Miki. He really didn't mean to panic on her like that but he kept on breathing hard. Miki looked concerned as Kenta hyperventilated at the news and went pale. He turned to face the door of his house and looked at it hard. Wordlessly he opened the gate and let himself up the stairs to the door. Miki followed after Kenta until he whirled around again to face her.

"Stay there!" Kenta said firmly. Miki blinked, she never heard Kenta so controlled before. This wasn't how Kenta usually reacted and even Kenta looked surprised at how he responded.

"Kenta? Is something wrong?" Miki asked unsure how to proceed. Kenta was always the nice one, the clueless one after Takato and Hirokazu. MarineAngemon flitted up the stairs after his partner, surprised by his outburst much like Miki.

"No... I mean yes!... Argh! Just stay there! This might be dangerous!" Kenta ordered though he felt even more unsure about what to do. MarineAngemon kept close to Kenta but Miki wasn't about to be shut out by Kenta. She marched right up to Kenta and came right to his side as he hesitated on opening his front door.

"Listen! Hirokazu got carried away by an ambulance! That digimon partner of his got carried away by some people! And your here at your house looking scared out of your mind! What's wrong!" Miki shouted at Kenta annoyed to get his attention.

"That's just it! I'm scared out of my mind!" Kenta shouted back at Miki.

"What?! I told you Hirokazu's in an ambulance! They're probably all ready at the hospital!" Miki argued back loudly. Kenta threw away the precaution of silence and faced Miki to shout back.

"You don't understand! Enemy digimon are appearing in the city! They're attacking everyone whose a Tamer! There could be one hiding behind that door or in my house!" Kenta shouted back at Miki. He hated this but what if Hirokazu didn't make it? What if he died? What if his parents were dead or injured? The myriad of 'what ifs' just pounded his brain and fear replaced all his emotions. Miki didn't understand the possible enormity of the situation at hand. She was ignorant as to what it felt like to put your life on the line and realize that there probably people depending on you to save their lives as well. Or in his case two entire worlds full of living beings desperate to do anything to live, even if it meant futilely throwing away their lives to fight back a monster that knew nothing of life or emotion. 

"It's just a damn door! There's no monster hiding behind it!" Miki said, to punctuate her reasoning she threw open the door for Kenta but kept her eye on Kenta. Kenta looked at her annoyed and MarineAngemon ignored the two and simply looked into the darkened house. It was then they were greeted by the sickly sweet smell of blood and MarineAngemon's frantic voice.

"PI!!!"

Kenta and Miki slowly turned their heads to look behind the front door and into the darkness of the house. In the pale light from various street lamps a faint outline of a body could be seen. Kenta's hand shook as he reached into the house and placed his hands on wall to the light switch.

Clack... Clack... Clack...

Kenta turned the defunct light switch on and off again. The power was off completely and Miki chocked back the urge to scream. Her knees tremble and felt sick to her stomach. Kenta walked into the house and approached the body. It was then his foot brushed on something and Kenta stopped. He didn't want to look down to see what it was at his feet but inexorably his eyes looked down and froze. The object by his feet was roughly the size of a soccer ball but was a bit more oval shaped.

"No..." Kenta breathed. He wanted to scream, panic, cry, breakdown or something, anything but this numbness that pervaded his very soul. He kneeled down and noted that the ground with wet some sort of sticky liquid but Kenta tried not to make a guess of what it was. He knew what it was but his brain denied it, no, he denied it. It wasn't blood that he was kneeling and the strange round object was not a human head. It wasn't reality at all.

Miki backed off from the house and threw up on the steps sickened by the smell. There was only one time she ever smelt blood and that was when she was at a meat market in the countryside with her grandparents. She hated the place but kept silent about her disgust of it all. An overwhelming reason why Miki was a vegetarian, the thought of eating once living things that spent their last moments of their lives bleeding to death was more than she could bear. This was the same pungent smell of blood but this time Miki knew that the blood she was smelling was not from an animal.

Kenta ignored Miki. He was in his own little world in an attempt to shield his fragile psyche from the reality of it all. He picked up the head by the hair. It spun around a bit before the face faced Kenta and bits of dried blood flaked off. It's eyes were still open with a unmistakable look of horror etched on her face. Kenta could stop staring back into the drying eyes and weakly smile. He started to chuckle, his hands shaking and it was then that he buried himself in an illusion. He could hear his father upstairs playing the cello and getting the b flat note wrong, his mother was in the hallway greeting him back with a smile. His mother wasn't a beautiful woman in the physical sense but she was his mother, and that made her all the more beautiful in his mind. How many kids had called his mother a dog faced woman? Just how many times did he come to her with tears in eyes and come walking away with a smile? She was still there to comfort him, no matter what.

"Hi mom!" Kenta said with a deranged smile and happy lilt in his voice. Miki stopped retching and turned to see Kenta stand up with the head in both of his hands. The sheer shocking morbidity of it all stopped her from moving or doing anything else. MarineAngemon looked very disturbed by his Tamer's actions and words.

"Sorry I'm late, I had dinner at Makino-san's place... Oh still chasing after that rat eh?" Kenta continued his conversation with the head. He however didn't see a head in his hands, he saw his mother smiling back at him and answering his questions and upstairs the mellow strains of music from his father's cello.

"Kenta..." Miki said shocked. She felt sick to the bottom of her stomach. At the sound of her voice Kenta turned around with a smile on his face, his glasses were glowing in the dark as the light reflected off them. His hands and pants were marred with blood. She wanted to retch again but she had nothing left in her stomach.

"Oh Nakajima-san, how are you doing?" Kenta said as he walked further into the darkened house. He gently went up to the body which was what was left of Mrs. Kitagawa from where Miki was standing. The body was brutalized to the point Miki wondered if she could really call it a body at all. In one of the hands of the body was the telephone receiver with it's line cut from the phone and the lower half of the body's torso was a triple incision that spilt something out. The darkness of the house however kept Miki from seeing the gory details of exactly what had spilt out of Mrs. Kitagawa's dead body. Kenta put the head on his mother shoulders but it was unbalanced and hit the ground with a strangely hollow sound one would expect from wood hitting wood. Kenta smiled still and noticed the telephone receiver in his dead mother's hand.

"Oh, you're talking on the phone. No wonder I couldn't contact you at Ruki's place. I'm going upstairs to see dad, okay?... Hmm?... Oh yeah my shoes. I got to take him off..." Kenta said to the dead body ignoring the horrified look on Miki's face. Kenta returned to the front door area and sat down to remove his shoes. Miki went up to Kenta scared out of her wits.

"Kenta... Kenta listen to me please!" Miki begged. She couldn't bear to look up to see Mrs. Kitagawa's dead body. She wanted scream and MarineAngemon kept well away from Kenta and the corpse.

"Penpa! Penpa!" MarineAngemon repeated over and over again. It sounded distressed by Kenta's denial of reality.

"Not now Mari," Kenta said calmly. He looked at his partner and smiled. He got up and ran further into the hall in his socked feet without looking back. They got soaked by the blood on the ground but Kenta ignored it. To look back or look around was to shatter his illusion. There was no dead body in the front of the house and the cello was still playing. This time he could hear the Bach suite for solo cello in G major, a sad sounding piece that Kenta always liked hearing. He was going to try and find his father.

"Kenta your mother is dead!" Miki screamed at him. She went after him as he walked down the hall. She ignored the blood on the floor and MarineAngemon chased after Miki who ran down the hall after Kenta. It was dark in the house but Miki had visited often enough to know where Kenta was heading. The second floor of the house, the music room of the Beethoven b flat horror as Kenta once dubbed it when she visited. The hallway was pock marked with deep slashes and some dried blood dribbled here and there. It was like a haunted house but the blood was real and darkness unnerving. Kenta rapidly went up the stairs ignoring the blood marring the handle as he went up. MarineAngemon kept close to Miki as they went after Kenta who eventually waited on top of the staircase for them. The smell of house was overwhelming for Miki and yet Kenta looked perfectly fine. The weak light from the outside revealed his facial features barely but it was enough for Miki to realize that Kenta was smiling dementedly.

"Shhh!" Kenta said taking a finger and placing it on Miki's lip. The finger was dripping in blood and went on Miki's lip. She slapped Kenta's hand away and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt.

"Kenta! Listen to me!" Miki shouted at him. She was sick, terrified and horrified of Kenta but she couldn't just abandon him in the house.

"Hey, not so loud. My dad's playing in there... Can't you hear it?" Kenta asked softly. The smile was gone now and he lifted his bloodied hand to his face.

"Penpa... Pi pi pepapi..." MarineAngemon said in his nonsense language which Kenta understood completely.

"Oh?... When reality is fantasy and fantasy is reality, what's the difference?" Kenta asked his partner. His hand slid down his face lightly leaving a bit of blood down his cheek. Miki didn't say anything, Kenta's sanity had gone on vacation without so much as a 'gone fishing' sign left in it's place.

"I can still hear her... She's down stairs talking on the phone... Dad's here cursing his bow and wishing he had more time to practice... I'm here outside in the hall of the second floor with you... See? It's a fantasy but it is my reality. Why do I have to follow your fantasy? Your reality?" Kenta asked. His eyes bore into Miki and MarineAngemon with a contemptuous glean. Miki felt her lips move.

"Because your reality of fantasy is a lie..." Miki said in a soft voice. Kenta looked dumbfounded for a moment before slowly turning away. He threw open the door to the music room and saw a body sitting on a chair. The cello was on the ground on it's side with the bow on top, ready for playing but the player never moved. It's head was thrown back and hanged on the back of the chair. The smell of blood was strong again and Miki found herself unable to back off.

"A lie... It's all a lie?..." Kenta muttered to himself and approached his father's body near the cello. He sat on a spare chair and stared at it. His father's body looked like it was intact but when he looked closer there was a deep cut into his throat where blood had gurgled out from the wound. Kenta sat there with Miki outside the room and MarineAngemon flitting about. It was then with a fluid motion Kenta picked up his father's cello and bow and placed them into ready position for playing. A single note echoed and then another until finally Kenta began playing with his father's dead body in the other chair. The music stand was upset and the music scattered on the blood splattered floor. One of the cello's side was dripping with drying blood but Kenta ignored it. He didn't even know what he was playing either, he forgotten what the music was called but was light and happy. Happiness in each stroke with a bit bounce and staccato on the last note of each bar. Long sweeps of the bow like his father had taught him and proper finger placement on the black fingerboard of the cello. Melodious, warm and cheerful, so much different from the reality that Miki and MarineAngemon were firmly entrenched in. Kenta allowed himself to fantasize that he was just practicing the cello with his father again and Miki just visited to listen. It was perfect but then she heard Miki's voice shatter it again. It repeated itself over and over again until it drowned out the false sounds of the happy music.

'Your reality of fantasy is a lie...'

He stopped playing and put the bow down from the cello to stare at the window where some light filtered in. Lost in thought Kenta wrestled with his feelings. Images of his happier days, like when his mother made chocolate cookies or how his father took him to the Kiwanis Music festival. It was all gone now, they would never do the things that he remembered. Never would they laugh, cry, eat another dinner together or hug again.

"Kenta?..." Miki asked trembling. She wanted to run out of the house and away from the overwhelming smell of carrion but remained in the hallway before slowly moving into the room.

"... A lie?..." Kenta asked himself. His fantasy that his parents were alive came crashing down on him. His father is dead, the body straight in front of his own eyes. His mother is dead downstairs with her body cut into pieces and blood is all over him. The blood of his parents and that sent his mind careening back into unwelcomed reality. Tears dripped down from his face and Kenta go up from his chair. Miki placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Kenta... We have to get out and call the police..." Miki managed to say. Kenta walked away from her with the cello and bow in hand, ignoring everything around him. He looked down at the cello in his hand and felt an overwhelming surge of hate boil out of him. He took the cello and threw it out the closed window with as much force as possible. The glass of the window broke and the instrument fell from the second floor window to the garden outside. The tingle of glass was blocked out by Kenta's scream of anger and disgust. He trembled before slowly turning around to face Miki and calmly began to speak.

"We have to get out you say... We have to call the police you say... Next you'll be telling me how it's all right... Next you'll tell me that the police will solve this and catch the bastard that did it but your wrong. No human did this... A digimon did... Just how the hell is the police going to catch a digimon? They aren't going to catch the piece of @#*& that killed my mother and father... You know why?..." Kenta said in a dangerously low voice to Miki who backed off a step from Kenta. He looked far too psychotic to be the same shy boy she knew from school.

"Kenta calm down..." Miki whispered. She wanted to gut herself right there. How could she tell Kenta to calm down after what they just saw? Kenta apparently didn't hear what Miki said and went on with his tirade.

"I'll tell you why! Because I'm going to kill the asshole who did this! I'll take a knife to slit open his abdomen and let all his data spill out! Then I'm going drive that knife through his eyes and blind him... Hell maybe I can get some sort of digimon vulture to feast on his slowly deleting body while his still alive and squirming! I'll make him beg for mercy... No death! And I won't grant it to that bastard! I'll make sure his soul arrives in Digital limbo!" Kenta ranted with increasing volume. He picked up a chair and threw out another window close by, MarineAngemon shuddered and went up to Kenta. Tears streamed down Kenta's face and he could only go to the bloody ground and pound his fist in rage. Miki came over Kenta with tears in her eyes and stood over him before kneeling by his side.

"Kenta... Please..." Miki begged though her words were lost on Kenta. She was helpless to help him and had no idea what to say next.

"... Mama... Papa... Why?" Kenta cried. MarineAngemon could only look on with saddened eyes and shudder. A feeling of dread and cold hate washed over him but MarineAngemon said nothing.

Outside the sounds of sirens, people talking and walking drowned out the sound of a single boy's misery easily. Those outside never knew, not even the neighbours who called the police after hearing a scream and seeing the cello come crashing out of the Kitagawa residence, what had happened. Only Miki who kneeled by Kenta's side and holding his bloody hands knew and she could only cry with blood on her lips.


End file.
